No Vacation Goes Unpunished
by Titan5
Summary: John and team travel to Earth for some down time after a tragic mission and end up visiting Dave's family. If only things were that simple. This is a sequel to "Happiness is a Loud Hawaiian Shirt", although it is not necessary to have read that story for this one to make sense.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **This is a sequel to _Happiness is a Loud Hawaiian Shirt_ and so it includes the Dave and family set up originally in _Real Heroes Wear Orange. _Many thanks to my beta, Rosalee, for spotting my many goofy errors. Hopefully I fixed them all, but if I missed any, that's on me. There are mentions of Dr. Nick Strauhan, who I have used in previous stories (originally created by rogue1503). The story is complete and I hope to post one chapter per day as I give them a final check.

**No Vacation Goes Unpunished**

**Chapter 1**

At the sound of the gate deactivating behind him, John Sheppard felt the muscles in his back and neck relax a little. Now if the guy with the jackhammer in his head would just take a break. Indicative of the late hour were the subdued gate room lighting and the skeleton crew at the consoles in the control room above.

"Sheppard?"

John turned to his team, who looked as tired as he felt. All of them were covered in mud in varying stages of drying. They were bruised and battered, but they were all alive and that was what counted, especially in light of the fact that eighteen others were not.

"Coming." He followed his team from the gate room, noting the lines of exhaustion and despair on their faces. He tried to clear his mind of the scenes of panic and destruction that made up the last two weeks of his life, but they kept replaying over and over, screaming for him to find a way to go back and fix it.

They had arrived on M3P-721 exactly two weeks ago. Atlantis had been trading with the Eularians for two years and had found them a hard-working, pleasant people. After a day of visiting and negotiating the new trade terms, a huge storm had descended on the village, complete with ground-shaking thunder, lightning, and torrential rains. It didn't seem like a problem since they had planned on staying the night anyway.

They were having supper with Havlick, one of the unofficial leaders of the village, when the mudslides started. One moment they were feasting on Pegasus beef stew and the next they were swimming in mud, trying not to be impaled by the debris from the house as it broke up around them.

John shook his head, trying again to clear the images from his mind. The infirmary was quiet, the lighting low in the back where two patients slept. Amy directed them to exam beds in the front and spoke quietly to them.

"We were expecting you earlier," she said.

John rubbed his face, feeling the stubble from several days of not shaving. "Yeah, we were going to head back a few hours ago, but they needed a few extra hands to finish the common building. Since several families need to live there for the foreseeable future, we wanted to make sure it got finished."

"You mean what's left of the families," said Rodney.

_Yeah. _Everyone in the village had lost friends or family or both.A quiet village of around a hundred had been reduced by eighteen, ten adults and eight children. John could still see Havlick's eight-year old son Caluah as he pulled the boy's body from the mud. He dug his fingers into his closed eyes, trying to push the image from his brain.

"Colonel?"

John let his hand drop and looked into Carson's sympathetic eyes. "Yeah, sorry. Nick said to tell you the medical tent was almost cleared out and they'll probably be home day after tomorrow. He wants to do one last check on everyone with injuries tomorrow before they pack it in."

Carson nodded. "Aye, I expected as much. I know the four of you must be exhausted. Anything I need to know about?"

John looked at his battered team. "Muscle strains, scratches and bruises, memories we wish we could forget."

Carson nodded, studying each of the in turn. "All right. It's late and you're all quite filthy, so I'm going to let you go get cleaned up and then get some sleep. Check with me in the morning to make sure nothing's amiss. Do not make me come looking for you."

John nodded. "Thanks, Carson. How about we stop by on the way to breakfast?"

"Aye, that sounds good lad. Now off to bed with the lot of you. You look as if you could use a week of sleep."

"Not far from the truth," said Rodney as he cocked his hand in something between a wave and a salute.

The four of them trudged out to the hall and stood for a moment as if they'd forgotten what they were doing. "See you guys in the morning," John said. The others nodded as they began shuffling toward the transporter.

oOo

John walked into the conference room and set his third cup of coffee for the day on the table. Sliding into his seat, he noticed he was almost the last one there. Rodney and Teyla sat on his right with Lorne and Ronon seated opposite them. Carson was directly across the table, eyeing him and his team while they waited on Woolsey.

"We're fine, Carson, you said so yourself not an hour ago," said John. He sipped his coffee as the doctor relaxed and nodded.

"I know, colonel. I just keep thinking about what could have happened." He rubbed his eyes a moment. "And about all those poor people in the village."

Woolsey strolled into the room about then and sat at the head of the table, to John's left. "Good morning, everyone. Colonel, it's good to have you and your team back."

John nodded once. "It's good to be back. Mostly it's good to be clean again."

"You got that right," muttered Rodney.

"How are the clean-up and repairs coming along? It's been a few days since I've had a report."

"It's going about as well as it can," said John. "All the homes that were damaged have been repaired. The mud and debris have been cleared so they can start rebuilding the homes that were destroyed, although they're moving them farther from the hillside. The common building was finished, so some of the displaced families can move in there and make more room in the tents for the others."

Woolsey nodded and made some notes on the pad he'd brought with him. "What did the engineers say?"

"They think another slide is unlikely for many years, but they're looking at ways to stabilize the area anyway and talking to the village leaders about things to watch out for." John rubbed the back of his neck. "Everyone is still a little shell-shocked. Nothing like this has ever happened before."

"I can only imagine," Woolsey said, his brow furrowing. He suddenly straightened and looked at Carson. "Dr. Beckett, I think you talked to Dr. Stauhan this morning?"

Carson sat up and nodded. "Aye, I did. They have one patient left and he's to be released this afternoon. He's doing a follow up with all the injured today to make sure everyone has what they need. If all goes well, they'll pack up the medical tent and return to the city tomorrow. He will need to go back in a week to follow up on a few patients, but that should be it."

Woolsey made notes as Carson talked and set his pen down as he finished. "Good. Major Lorne, what does the schedule look like for the future?"

Lorne glanced at John and then looked back at Woolsey. "Colonel Sheppard and I looked it over this morning. We have teams of eight military and two engineers rotating through every three days. We're thinking three to four more weeks."

Woolsey looked at John. "Teams are staying three days?"

John sighed. "Three days. I know what you're thinking and it was different for us. We know these people. We were there. We understand their loss on a personal level. We . . . it was hard to leave them still struggling to survive."

Woolsey stared at each of them a moment, no doubt reading their expressions. Finally, he gave them a short nod. "I understand, colonel. Be that as it may, Dr. Beckett has expressed concern that your team is exhausted, and not just from this most recent event. Things have been particularly tense and busy the last couple of months and your team has usually been at the center of the chaos."

John frowned, glancing from Woolsey to Carson and noting their stern expressions. "What are saying?"

"What I'm saying, colonel, is that your team needs a break," said Carson. "I want the four of you to take a week. Do what you want with it, as long as you relax. My suggestion is to do it away from Atlantis or you'll end up getting sucked back into some crisis."

"Exactly why we need to stay right here," said Rodney.

The room was quiet for a few seconds as everyone processed the recommendation. Part of John wanted to get away and enjoy some time off, but his paranoid side screamed that there'd be a Wraith or Genii attack five minutes after they took off. He glanced at Rodney, trying to decide whether or not to support his suggestion.

"Personally, I would enjoy some time to relax," said Teyla. John wasn't the only one staring at the Athosian with lifted brows.

"Really?" he said.

Teyla nodded. "While I would feel . . . uneasy about leaving for that long, I find myself tense of late, unable to concentrate or meditate. I believe some time away would help me regain my focus." Her mouth turned up in a small smile. "And it would be good to spend some uninterrupted time with Torren."

John rubbed his face, realizing how little time she had spent with her son over the past few months. While the rest of the team spent two weeks in the settlement, Teyla had come home for a day three times so she could see her son. But three days out of fourteen wasn't much. And while the last few months hadn't been quite that bad, it hadn't been a whole lot better either. She needed this.

"I think we should take the time," John said, giving her a nod.

"What?" Rodney gasped, his eyes widening. "But . . . "

John shook his head as he stared at the scientist. "No, Rodney. We need to take some time to regroup before we start making mistakes," he said, shifting his eyes to Teyla and then back to Rodney.

With a sigh and a half eye-roll, Rodney bobbed his head once. "Fine, fine, we'll take a vacation. Hopefully Zelenka can keep those morons in the labs from blowing us up for a week. And heaven help us if anything breaks down during that time."

Woolsey arched one eyebrow and said, "I think we can manage to keep the city together for a week without you."

John muffled his smile and looked to Ronon. "What do you think, big guy?"

Ronon, looking incredibly bored, shrugged one shoulder. "I'll manage."

John frowned. That wasn't really an answer, but it was Ronon so he wasn't sure what he'd expected. "Okay, looks like we're taking a week off. Major, are you alright with that?"

Lorne grinned. "I can handle it, sir. It'll be a piece of cake compared to how long you were laid up the last time."

John narrowed his eyes at the major, but didn't say anything. Really, what could he say to that? It was true. Lorne at least had the good grace to seem repentant and look away. "Good to know," John said. He glanced around at Carson, who was staring at them with wide eyes and an open mouth.

"You're going to catch flies," said Rodney, scowling at the physician.

Carson closed his mouth and shook his head. "Sorry, I was expecting more of a fight. This team doesn't often take so quickly to medical advice."

"Are you guys going somewhere as a team?" asked Lorne.

John and his team looked around at each other. "No idea. Guess we'll have to do some planning." John sat there a moment and then looked at Rodney. "What do you think about taking Teyla and Ronon to see Earth? We could do a road trip or visit Disney World or something."

Rodney looked at John like he usually looked at his lab minions. "Are you crazy?"

Huffing, John ignored Rodney and looked at Teyla. "What do you think? Would you like to visit Earth? Hey, we could go shopping for Torren and get him all kinds of things."

Teyla's eyes widened. "I must admit to being curious about your planet. All I have seen is what was in the hallucination provided by the mist people. It would be interesting to see the things your people have for children."

John looked at Ronon. "What about you, Ronon. Want to see where we came from?"

Woolsey cleared his throat. "Colonel, we would have to clear this through the SGC. I am unsure if they would be willing for two people not from our galaxy to be loose on Earth."

John's stomach clenched in anger. "Ronon and Teyla have both proven themselves trustworthy and willing to defend Atlantis. And they won't be running loose, they'll be taking a vacation with me."

"And me," said Rodney, trying to look annoyed but not quite succeeding.

John tipped his head to the scientist, squelching the urge to smile.

"I'm in," said Ronon. "McKay's always talking about the food there."

John looked back at Woolsey. "Okay then. We're going to Earth, as long as the SGC approves."

Woolsey let a small sigh escape and then nodded. "We're sending a data burst through in the morning. I'll forward your request at that time. Where will you go?"

John shrugged and glanced around at Rodney. "What do you think?"

Rodney held up his hand. "No, no. This is your gig. You plan it out and I'll ride shotgun."

John nodded. "Let's see if we get the okay first and then we can figure it out. I might need to swing by my brother's house for a minute if everyone is okay with that. His last email said he had some papers I need to sign the next time I'm stateside regarding the estate."

Rodney straightened. "Is this the brother with the shirt?" He snapped his fingers a couple of times and then said, "Dave?"

John nodded. "Yes, Rodney. He's the only brother I have."

"Well who would know? You kept _him_ hidden for years," Rodney said with a smirk.

John pushed his hand through his hair. The conversation was going places he wasn't prepared to go.

Woolsey came to the rescue. "If there is nothing else, we are adjourned for now. We'll be contacting the SGC at 0900 tomorrow. I'll speak to General Landry at that time about your trip. In the meantime, I would suggest you get prepared to leave. If approved, they may want you to leave immediately."

John gave him a nod. "Thank you." He clapped his hands together and turned to his team. "Pack your bags, ladies and gentlemen. We've got a vacation to attend." He grinned. Now that the decision had been made, he was ridiculously excited.

As they exited the conference room, Rodney sidled up next to him and said, "I just hope this doesn't turn out like a National Lampoon vacation."

John froze, staring at the retreating backs of his teammates, thoughts of the vacation disasters from the movies bouncing around his head along with the knowledge that he was going to have both Rodney and Ronon with him. _Well, crap._

oOo

John stepped out of the wormhole, the moment of disorientation passing quickly as he walked down the ramp at the SGC. Rodney led their procession with Ronon and Teyla, holding Torren, making up the middle. John carried his and Teyla's bags, the wormhole snapping closed behind him. General Landry and Colonel Carter waited for them at the end of the ramp.

"Welcome to Earth," Carter said with a grin.

"Thanks," said John as his team gathered in front of the pair. "General Landry," he said with a nod. "Thank you for agreeing to let Ronon and Teyla come with us." Might as well try to make a good impression while he could.

Landry nodded. "We felt they had both proven themselves trustworthy. I assume you have briefed them on the classified nature of the stargate program on Earth."

Rodney rolled his eyes. "Never crossed our minds."

John elbowed the scientist and glared for a moment before turning his attention back to the general. He didn't miss the way Carter had her lip rolled under in an attempt not to laugh. "What he means to say is yes, we've briefed them on what not to talk about around other people. And they know we can't take our weapons."

Ronon scowled and growled a second under his breath. John had not enjoyed the weapon conversation at all.

Carter motioned toward the door. "If you'll follow me to the infirmary so Carolyn can give you a quick check, then we can meet in the conference room. We have ID for Ronon and Teyla and a few other things you'll probably need for your trip."

As she headed the procession from the room, Landry moved to step partially in front of John to get him to stop. "General?"

"Colonel, I just want to make sure you are aware that you are responsible for our two guests. It is your job to make sure I don't regret this decision."

John narrowed his eyes, studying the general's face. He decided the man did not mean anything negative by his comment, but was just making sure John understood his responsibility. He nodded. "Yes sir, I understand. They'll be fine sir, I promise."

Landry studied him back for several seconds before nodding and stepping aside. "Enjoy your vacation, colonel."

An hour later, they had been cleared and had IDs for Teyla and Ronon, along with cell phones for John and Rodney. They took the elevator up to the surface and got in the Suburban the SGA had arranged. John called his brother from the parking lot as Rodney and Teyla figured out the car seat.

"_Hello."_

"Cindy, it's John."

"_John! Where are you? Are you here in the states?" _John grinned at how excited she sounded.

"Yeah, we ended up getting a few days leave. I know Dave said he needed my signature on some papers for the estate next time I was here. I was going to try to take care of that."

"_Great. I have the papers here, in his office. Are you coming today?"_

"Yeah, if that's okay. I thought I'd sign off on it before we got started, maybe say hi if you guys were around." He looked around at Torren's squeal to see the boy pounding on Rodney's head as the scientist tried to hook him into the car seat. John laughed as the scientist muttered to himself while Ronon and Teyla watched.

"_Good, I can't wait to see you. Did you say we? Who are you with? Is that a baby?"_

Turning back to the car so he wouldn't get distracted, John grinned at his fast talking sister-in-law. "I'm with my team, so there are four of us, and Teyla brought her little boy, Torren. He's almost eighteen months."

"_Oh, I can't wait to meet your team. Can you stay for dinner? Maybe stay the night? We have plenty of room."_

John hesitated, looking around at his team. He'd love to spend some time with his earth family, but his team probably wouldn't be that interested. On the other hand, it was going to be midafternoon by the time they got there. It might be better to stay the night and get an early start tomorrow. "Let me check with them and make sure they're okay with that."

"_Okay, you can let me know. What time will you be here?"_

"I think Rodney finally got the car seat figured out, so we should be able to leave soon. We'll stop for lunch in a bit, so maybe . . . two-thirty or so?"

"_Good. That will give us a little time before the kids get home from the McAllister's . I'll see you then."_

"Okay. Bye Cindy."

"_Bye, John."_

He hung up and walked back over to the car. "You guys ready?"

Ronon jumped into the front seat, leaving Rodney sputtering about how he had called shotgun. Teyla pushed him toward the back door and he finally stopped and got in. Once they were all settled, John headed for the highway.

"So, I called Cindy to tell her I could come by to sign the papers and she asked if we wanted to stay for supper and maybe spend the night. It doesn't matter to me. What would you guys like to do?"

"I would enjoy meeting your family," said Teyla.

"Really?" John asked, looking at her in the rear view mirror. She was smiling and seemed sincere.

"Me too," said Rodney, much to John's surprise. "I'd love to meet the people responsible for that orange shirt in your picture. I'd also love to hear stories about you."

Ronon chuckled. "I'd like to hear stories too. We should stay."

John frowned, staring forward at the road passing by. He was no longer sure this was a good idea. He hadn't thought of Dave telling stories on him. He remembered laughing at sibling stories about Rodney as told by Jeannie.

"Good, it's settled. We're staying with John's brother tonight." Rodney rubbed his hands together and grinned at John by way of the mirror. "Do we need to let her know?"

John sighed. "Yeah, I'll text her when we stop for lunch." He began trying to figure out what kind stories Dave would be telling about him.

oOo

As John parked the Suburban in Dave's driveway, he decided a road trip with this bunch might be a bad idea. Torren, sick of the car seat, had been screaming for nearly thirty minutes. He felt sorry for the kid, having never been in anything that restrictive before, especially for several hours, but his head was beginning to throb. And if Ronon and McKay didn't quit picking on each other, he was going to have to kill one of them. All of this had his nerves frazzled even before setting one foot into Dave's house. Not good.

"Don't make me come back there," John said, watching the two men in the back seat play tug-o-war with a giant bag of M&Ms. "You're going to . . . " He trailed off as the bag exploded and candy flew everywhere. Torren stopped screaming as it rained M&Ms in his lap and Teyla looked like she might be next on the exploding things list. Rodney and Ronon froze, their eyes wide and mouths open as they realized how much trouble they were in. Torren picked up a green M&M, popped it in his mouth, and clapped his hands as he chewed.

John sighed and let his head lean forward to rest on the steering wheel. Teyla's hand landed on his shoulder, giving it a sympathetic squeeze. John released his seat belt and reached for the door handle. "The two of you will clean up every bit of candy before it melts into the seats and carpet." Torren squealed in delight, grabbing another couple of pieces of candy from his lap before Teyla could get them.

"And if Torren develops a stomach ache from eating candy, the two of you will walk the halls with him while he screams," added Teyla. John grinned.

By the time he had all the luggage unloaded and sitting beside the car, Ronon and Rodney had managed to get most of the candy deposited in the plastic bag they had been using for garbage. They had apparently decided it would be wise to forego the normal argument over whose fault the incident had been. Wise choice. John felt like someone was tightening a clamp across his head from the traffic, blinding sunlight, arguing, and screaming.

"John, are you all right?" asked Teyla, Torren on her hip. She'd managed to clean most of the chocolate off his face with a napkin from Starbucks.

"I'm fine. Nothing about three Advils won't cure," he said with a smile. "What about you?"

She sighed and glanced down at her son, who was pulling at a strand of her hair like he'd never noticed it before. "I feel some time out of the car will be very beneficial. And I may ask for one or two of your Advil." She managed to disentangle Torren's fingers from her hair and smiled up at him.

"Done," Rodney said as he and Ronon closed the doors.

"You got under the seats too, right?" John said.

Rodney's eyes widened and he glanced back at the car at the same time as Ronon said, "Sure." Very convincing. He'd have to remember to check it out later.

He grabbed his and Teyla's bag and headed for the house about the time the front door opened. Cindy stepped out and said, "You're here," while bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. Her blonde hair was longer than the last time he'd seen her and pulled back in a French braid.

"Hey Cindy," John said as he walked past her, setting the luggage down in the foyer. His team followed him in and Cindy shut the door before pouncing on him with a hug. He had a moment of awkwardness as he forced himself not to tense up and returned her hug.

"He's making progress," said Rodney with a smirk.

John glared at him over her shoulder as Teyla whispered, "Rodney," in her stern voice. The scientist didn't appear to feel threatened by either of them.

When Cindy finally released him, John took a deep breath. "Guys, this is my sister-in-law Cindy. Cindy this is Teyla Emmagen and her son Torren, Ronon Dex, and Dr. Rodney McKay. This is my team."

Cindy nodded at them. "It's so good to finally meet you. John's told us a few stories about you guys, or at least the unclassified parts. I'm so glad you're staying tonight so we can get a chance to talk." She frowned as she looked at each member of the team. "You guys look a little worse for wear."

John sighed, studying the rest of his team. While they looked a lot better than they had two weeks ago, they were still mottled with bruises and scratches from the clean-up and building projects. And they looked tired. Actually, there was a deep weariness in their eyes that spoke of the emotional burden they carried.

"Yeah, we . . . had a rough patch." He swallowed, not ready to expose the tragedy to the light of day yet. "The brass decided we needed a break."

Cindy seemed to pick up on the fact that they didn't want to discuss it. "I'm sorry about that, but I am glad we get to see you and meet your friends. Dave should be home in a couple of hours and the kids will home in a few minutes. Why don't we get you settled."

John rubbed the back of his neck. "I hope you didn't go to a lot of trouble. We could still get a hotel room."

Cindy arched one eyebrow. "You will not get a hotel room John Sheppard. We _want _you and your team to stay here with us. Capiche?"

One corner of his mouth turned up as John gave a mock salute. "Yes, ma'am."

Cindy nodded her approval as Rodney smirked and Ronon looked amused. "I'm thinking Teyla and Torren can stay in the guest room upstairs and the three guys can bunk downstairs. I'll take Teyla up and John, you can take them down to the family room. You can use both bedrooms and the couch is comfortable too."

"Got it," John said as he picked up his bag and led the way downstairs. The family room was huge. It was longer than it was wide, with a pool table and a couple of director chairs near the stairs and a sectional, TV, and recliners at the other end. Also at the other end were two doors that led to two small bedrooms. One had a full sized bed and a dresser. The other had two twin beds and a set of shelves.

"I get the big bed," said Rodney, rushing past them to dump his suitcase on the full bed and then grin at them like he'd won a jackpot. John exchanged a look with Ronon and moved into the other room.

"Ronon, you can either have one of these or the sectional in the family room." Looking at the twin bed, he realized Ronon's feet would definitely hang off and possibly his arms too. He looked up at Ronon standing in the doorway, staring at what had to look like a kid's bed to him.

"Yeah, I think I'll sleep out here," he said.

John nodded. "I don't blame you. It's actually pretty comfortable. I went to sleep watching a movie on it and slept until morning. You might want to keep your bag in here though."

Ronon nodded and set his bag on the other bed. John said, "We'll get you some blankets and pillows later."

Ronon shrugged. "Doubt I'll need 'um."

Grinning, John moved past him to the family room. "Yeah, well, I can't imagine Cindy not providing them, so just take them and you can use them or not." He waved toward the pool table end of the room. "Bathroom is down there."

By the time they got back upstairs, Teyla and Cindy were in the kitchen. John could smell coffee brewing and he took a second to inhale deeply. Rodney moaned behind him, making him laugh. A large plate of chocolate chip cookies sat on the breakfast bar and Teyla was putting a couple on a small plate. Cindy set a mug down in front of her and Teyla thanked her. Tea, no doubt.

Teyla picked up a bottle of Advil and held it out. Grinning, John took it and popped open the top.

"Cookies," Rodney said in his high pitched, excited voice.

"Down, boy," said John. "Leave some for Gabrielle and Daniel."

"How old are the children?" asked Teyla, sitting down at the table with Torren in her lap.

"Gabrielle just turned ten and Daniel is thirteen. I can't believe he's in junior high already." Cindy grimaced as she nodded toward Torren. "You'll be shocked at how fast they grow up. One day they depend on you for everything and the next day they think they can do everything themselves."

Teyla nodded. "Even in the short time he has been here, I have been truly amazed at how much Torren has changed. Sometimes I am afraid I am missing too much of his childhood."

"It's easy to do," Cindy said.

John cringed, thinking about how much time his team had been away from Atlantis over the last few weeks. He glanced at Teyla, but she was studying Torren as he ate the piece of cookie she had given him. When they got back to Atlantis, he'd talk with her, work out a plan where she could spend more time with her son.

As Cindy was shelling out plates and taking coffee orders, the front door opened and closed followed by the appearance of the two children. Ronon was still standing beside the kitchen door and the kids let their eyes slowly track all the way up to the big man's head.

Ronon stood with his arms crossed, staring down at the them with a stony expression. John grinned at Cindy and walked over to the trio. "Daniel, Gabrielle, this is Ronon. He's on my team and he's a good friend."

Gabrielle visibly swallowed and Daniel said, "He's tall," in a voice that was little more than a whisper.

"Yes, yes he is," said John.

Gabrielle stared up at him, an expression of awe on her face. "Do you fight bad guys with Uncle John?"

Ronon squatted down in front of her, his expression softening. "I do. We watch out for each other."

Gabrielle smiled and nodded once. "Good. Uncle John will be safe with you." Then she stepped forward and hugged him. Daniel's mouth dropped open. Ronon's eyes widened for a moment, then he grinned and gently returned the hug. John didn't think he'd ever seen that particular expression on Ronon before. Looked like his niece had successfully wrapped another one around her finger.


	2. Chapter 2

**No Vacation Goes Unpunished**

**Chapter 2**

By the time Dave arrived, Torren had spurred Cindy on to toddler-proofing the living room. Everyone but Ronon was sitting around drinking coffee and talking while the child played with a box of toys Cindy had unearthed from a closet. Cindy jumped to her feet as her husband walked in, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "You made it."

Dave nodded. "Yeah, finally. Sorry to be so late."

Cindy frowned at Dave, leading John to take another look. His brother looked tired in a _really bad day _kind of way. His shoulders were slumped, his tie was crooked, and he looked like he'd been running his hand through his hair over and over again. "Hey, stuff happens," John said as he stood. "And I should know."

Dave snorted and flashed a small smile. "Yeah, I guess you would."

John walked over and they stared at each other a moment before awkwardly shaking hands. "You look like you could use a drink."

Dave sighed and nodded. "Reading my mind, little brother." He looked John over and the tension seemed to leak out of his body. "I'm glad you're here. You look a little rough around the edges yourself."

John shrugged. "We've had rough few weeks. They kicked us out and told us to go somewhere and relax. Uh, this is my team. Dr. Rodney McKay." John pointed to Rodney, who was trying to wrestle the TV remote away from Torren. He waved the hand with remote in it while grabbing for his coffee cup that Torren was reaching for with the other.

John snickered and nodded at Teyla, who seemed to be enjoying Rodney's predicament. "That's Teyla Emmagan and the boy giving Rodney such a hard time is her son, Torren."

Teyla nodded. "It is very nice to meet John's brother. We have heard much about your family." She slid John a mischievous grin. "As I believe Rodney has told you, we were very intrigued by the orange shirt."

John jerked his head around. "Hey, I thought we agreed not to discuss that."

"No, you told us not to mention it, but we never agreed to anything," said Rodney.

Dave's eyes widened and his grin broadened. "Oh, yeah. Dr. McKay sent me a couple of pictures from the birthday party. I hope you guys brought more."

Rodney stood and carried Torren over to hand the child off to his mother. "Yes, I have lots of pictures. And before you say anything, Sheppard, I've put together a selection with nothing classified in them. The party was great, by the way. Thanks for your help."

Dave clasped John by the shoulder. "Anything for family." His eyes shifted to the window and he frowned, staring out at the back yard. "Who _is _that?" Narrowing his eyes, he stepped closer to the window. "Is that the kids? What are they doing?"

John came up beside him and followed his gaze. Laughing out loud, he clapped Dave on the shoulder. Ronon was stalking around like Frankenstein's monster and appeared to be growling while Gabrielle clung to his leg and Daniel tried repeatedly to tackle him. "That would be Ronon."

Ronon turned to face them about that time and recognition flickered across Dave's face. "Ronon. He came with you to Dad's wake."

"Yep. Looks like he's having a good time with the kids."

Dave's rigid posture relaxed and John could practically see the tension flow out of him. "Yeah." He watched a few more seconds and Dave added, "Man, wish we could hire him to do that a few times a week. We might get to skip the bedtime battle tonight. They'll be worn out."

"Ronon tends to have that effect on people, right colonel?" said Rodney with a smirk.

John rolled his lower lip in as he remembered his last sparring session with the big man. He was saved from coming up with a response by a loud beeping. Cindy popped up and headed for the kitchen. "That's supper. Get the kids in and everyone get ready to eat."

Rodney chuckled. "Yes, let's get the kids in . . . all three of them."

John headed for the back door, poking Rodney in the arm on his way by. "I'll be sure and tell Ronon you said that," John said with a grin. He heard Rodney sputtering behind him as Teyla assured him John wouldn't say anything.

Dinner was a lively event, with family stories from David and Cindy and modified, mostly non-violent tales from the team. Fortunately not all of their interactions with Pegasus natives turned deadly. Some were very pleasant and others were just funny. A few were extremely embarrassing. John was pretty sure his team had focused on the ones where he was the one being humiliated. It was all in good fun, but he was still thankful when the meal ended.

After dinner Rodney treated everyone to pictures from John's tropical-themed birthday party on the pier. John felt himself smiling as he remembered the warm feelings of support and acceptance the gathering had filled him with. He was still amazed by all the work so many people had put into the party for "loose cannon Sheppard". Maybe he'd finally outlived that particular sentiment.

Once the slide show was over, the moms in the house began putting kids to bed. Rodney began introducing Ronon to the world of _Lord of the Rings_. Ronon seemed more confused than impressed. John made a fresh pot of coffee and decided to take David a cup. His brother had retired to his office a while ago and he'd looked troubled.

"Penny for your thoughts," John said as he set the steaming cup on the desk. David startled, jerking his head up. "Sorry, didn't mean to sneak up on you."

David leaned back in the chair and rubbed his face. "It's fine. I'm pretty sure I was so zoned out I wouldn't have heard a buffalo come in."

John arched an eyebrow. "Are you disparaging my stealth skills?"

David stared at him for a moment, brows slightly furrowed. "What? No, I just meant . . . " He trailed off as John grinned at him. "Oh, right. Ha ha."

John let the smile slide away. "What's up? Anything I can help you with?"

David sighed and straightened, waving one hand at the papers before him. "One of my plant managers met with me today to complain about the lack of money for repairs and proper maintenance on his facility. It's been going downhill for two years and he came to say that things are so critical they are becoming unsafe. His records show I denied all his requests, but the official records show the requests granted and the repairs were made."

John frowned, rubbing his chin with one hand. "So someone's been embezzling money."

Dave sighed again. "It would appear so. I didn't tell Stan that, because I wasn't sure what was going on. I just told him I was under the impression that his requests had been approved. He's going to make a list of everything they need and I'll visit the plant early next week to go over everything with him."

"And you're convinced this Stan guy is on the up and up?"

Dave nodded. "Yes, absolutely. He had copies of emails, supposedly from me, explaining why funding was not available for his project requests." He laughed, but it was dry and humorless. "I think he thought I was yanking his chain when I claimed not to have sent them. I told him I wasn't sure what was going on, but there had been a mistake made somewhere along the way and I would correct it. By the time he left, I think he suspected what I did – that someone was stealing from the company."

John sipped his coffee for a moment. "Rodney and I can take a look if you want. I'm good with numbers and he's crazy good with computers."

David looked hopeful for a moment before shaking his head. "I can't ask you to do that. You guys are here on vacation. You're supposed to be relaxing. And no offense, but you guys look like you need it."

John slipped into his lopsided grin as he cocked his head to one side. "Thanks big brother, but you didn't ask me. Since no one is shooting at us and we're not about to blow up, it'll be more like a puzzle than work." David's horrified expression made him think maybe he shouldn't have brought up the shooting and blowing up thing. "Hey, it's going to be hard for you to do an internal investigation when you don't know who to trust. Let us help you."

David looked like he wanted to accept, but hesitated. John spread his hands. "It's the least we can do for the room and board."

David's whole body seemed to relax back into the chair and he finally smiled. "Yeah . . . yeah, we could do that. Thanks."

John nodded and pulled a chair up next to Dave at the desk. "Okay, show me what you've got."

An hour later, Rodney poked his head in the door. "Hey, there you are."

John looked up. "Here I am. Can't get anything past our resident genius."

With an exaggerated eye-roll, Rodney walked over to look over John's shoulder. Dave had stepped out to stretch his legs and check on the coffee pot. "What'cha doing?"

John briefly explained what was going on and what he'd found so far. "Do you think at some point you could take a look, see if you can help narrow down who, what, where, and when?"

"Of course. Remember who you're talking to."

John chuckled. "I don't think there's any danger of me forgetting."

Dave came back in, carrying two mugs of fresh coffee. John could smell it as soon as he entered the room. "Oh, hey Dr. McKay. Give me a sec and I'll get you a cup."

Rodney waved his hand and shook his head. "I'll grab one in a minute when I get my computer. John was catching me up."

Dave nodded. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask you. How long are you here for?"

John shrugged. "We were just going to stay the night. I was going to sign those papers for you, plus I wanted to see you guys and introduce you to my team and them to you. Especially after you guys collaborated on the big birthday celebration."

"Oh, I was hoping you could stay longer. Where are you guys headed?"

John looked at Rodney and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, we aren't sure. I was going to throw out a few ideas and see what interested them."

Dave's eyes widened. "You could stay here. We'd love to have you and your team. I've got a thing tomorrow night, but we could take the boat out on the lake Saturday. You guys could fish or ski or whatever you want. You can swim in the pool or ride horses."

Rodney looked around at John. "You forgot to mention this place was practically a resort."

John could feel heat creeping up his neck. "It's not a resort, Rodney."

"Yeah, whatever you say colonel. I'm game if Ronon and Teyla are. Plus that would give me more time to track down your thief."

John sighed. "I guess Torren would appreciate not having to ride so much in the car seat."

Rodney's eyebrows rose. "Torren? You mean the rest of us would appreciate Torren not having to get in the car seat, or least our ears would."

John nodded. "You have a point." Looking at Dave, he said, "We've got a week. You sure it's okay for us to stay that long?"

Dave gave a quick nod. "Cindy's already been badgering me to find out if you could stay a few days so I know it's okay with her."

"Okay, I'll check with the others, but I don't figure they'll mind."

Rodney smirked. "If they do, just remind them we'd have to do a lot of traveling with Torren and they'll get over it."

Ninety minutes later, John had figured out which invoices were fake and that almost $300,000 had been embezzled since the beginning of the year. He hadn't even started on the previous year's records. He rubbed the ache in his neck and reported his findings.

Rodney sighed and leaned back. "I haven't tracked down who it is yet. This guy is pretty good at covering his tracks."

Dave stood and stretched. "Let's call it quits tonight. I'm tired and I know you guys are."

John rubbed his eyes. "I think that's a wonderful idea, especially since we'll probably be staying a few days."

"We are," said Rodney. When John and Dave both looked at him, he frowned. "I saw Teyla and Ronon when I went to get coffee earlier and asked them about staying. They said yes. Did I not tell you guys?"

"No, Rodney, you didn't mention it," said John.

"Oh. Well, now you know."

John and Dave looked at each other and Dave grinned. "I'm beat. I'll see you guys at breakfast. You need anything?"

"No, we're good. Come on, let's go see what Ronon's into."

As they filed out of the office, Dave let Rodney get a few feet ahead and leaned over to John. "Genius, huh?"

oOo

John jerked awake, gasping for air. It took him a few moments to realize he wasn't drowning in a sea of mud, but lying in a bed in his brother's basement. Rubbing his face, he sat up and threw his legs over the side of the bed. His mind whirred with scenes of death and destruction, broken homes and broken bodies, all covered in dark brown mud. Movement in the doorway brought his swift attention.

A large form filled the doorway. His heart jumped in his chest for a moment. "Ronon?"

"Heard you wake up. Go for a run?" the big man whispered.

John glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It was a little after five. John knew he wouldn't be going back to sleep any time soon, no matter how tired he was. "Sure. Give me a minute."

"Meet you upstairs by the door."

John nodded. About the time he realized Ronon might not be able to see the motion in the dark, Ronon was already gone. Shaking his head, he quickly got dressed and went upstairs. They slipped outside and began some stretching moves.

"You want to run the road or around the pastures?" John asked.

"Pastures. It's better practice running from the Wraith."

John nodded. He didn't remember the Wraith or irate natives ever chasing them down any nice paved roads. Besides, it'd be his luck to come back to Earth to get run down by a reckless driver after surviving the craziness of the Pegasus galaxy.

They ran for almost two hours, returning to the house drenched in sweat. John was tired, but his head felt clear for the first time in days. He loved running and he loved being outside with the grass and the trees and the fresh air. He had needed this.

They entered the house quietly, but it looked like everyone was awake. Ronon's eyes widened at the smell of bacon and John grinned. They found Cindy cooking while Dave sipped coffee and set the table. Dave looked up, his brow furrowing. "How long did you guys run?"

John shrugged. "We left around 5:15."

"I thought you were on vacation," said Cindy.

"You get soft, you die," Ronon said in a matter of fact tone and then headed downstairs.

John watched him go and turned to see his brother and sister-in-law staring at him. "He's not wrong," he said. "Have you guys seen Rodney yet?"

Dave shook his head and sighed. "You guys are . . . never mind. Yes, Rodney came up a few minutes ago and grabbed a cup of coffee."

John nodded. "Okay. I'm just going to grab a quick shower." As he walked away he heard Cindy announcing breakfast would be in about fifteen minutes.

He met Teyla as she came down the stairs. "Hey, how did you guys sleep?"

"Very well," she said with a relaxed smile that made him believe her. Torren seemed to be in a good mood as well. As he leaned over to blow in the boy's face, making him giggle, Teyla wrinkled her nose.

"You were about to shower?"

John grinned. "Yep. Why, do I stink?"

"Let us just say that we would not want to interrupt you."

"So that's a yes." John chuckled as he poked Torren in the belly and hopped down the stairs to the family room. He could hear both of them laughing behind him.

"Ronon beat you to the shower," said Rodney. He was sitting on the end of the sectional working on his computer. "You two just can't help yourselves, can you?"

John could hear the shower running. "It's fine, he's quick. And it's called staying in shape, something you might consider working on so the bad guys don't catch you."

Rodney waved his hand and made his _whatever _face. "Like you'd run off and leave me behind for them to catch."

"That's not . . . _Rodney._" John growled under his breath and went to dig out some clean clothes since the shower had stopped. On his way to the bathroom, he said, "Maybe I don't want to get caught trying to cover you while you try to waddle away from the bad guys." As Ronon stepped out of the bathroom, John grinned and stepped in, Rodney sputtering like an engine out of gas behind him.

John was the last one to the table, his hair dripping water down his neck. His stomach growled at the sight of so much food. Bacon and sausage on one platter, biscuits on another, and a giant bowl of scrambled eggs with cheese. There was a bowl of sausage gravy and a whole slew of jams and jellies. Ronon and Rodney looked like they'd killed the last remaining Wraith and won the Nobel Prize respectively.

After they'd filled their plates, Gabrielle and Daniel stared at Rodney and Ronon's plates with their mouths hanging open. John traded a grin with Teyla. Torren, chewing the edge of a piece of biscuit, sat between them. John acted like he was going to take the biscuit and Torren pulled it away, yelling, "No, no."

"John, do you remember Charles Wilshire?" asked Dave.

John froze, taking a deep breath. "Yes. Does he still live down the road?"

Dave nodded. "Same as when we were growing up." He set his fork down and looked at John. "I guess you remember his son, Tyler, was killed in Afghanistan?"

John nodded, wondering where this was going. Tyler had been three years younger than John. The first time John had come home from the military had been after his first deployment and Tyler had wanted to know what it was like. Tyler and John has been friends despite the age gap, riding horses together and complaining about their fathers' plans for them. Tyler had wanted to be an Army Ranger as much as John had wanted to fly. The difference was that John had eventually been disowned for his career choice whereas Charles had come to embrace his son's choice. Patrick had been embarrassed by his son's choice, but Charles had been proud.

When John learned Tyler had been killed in action, he couldn't help the guilt that filled him. He'd encouraged the boy to follow his dream. He would always wonder if he'd kept his mouth shut or not come home that year, if Tyler would have just gone with his father's plan and still be alive. He'd never told Dave or his father about that conversation.

"Charles does a benefit every year to raise money for Wounded Warriors. He wanted to do something to honor Tyler and Tyler had been very impressed by the way they helped some of his friends that were wounded and sent home. He told his dad he wanted to start supporting them because of all the good they did. Charles promised the next time he was home they would set something up, but . . . " Dave sighed.

"He didn't make it home," John said.

"Yeah. Anyway, the benefit is tonight. It's a fancy affair. If the weather's nice he has it out in the gardens and they are beautiful this time of year. Cindy and I are going. I thought . . . well, if you and your team would like to go, I can arrange it. I know I've heard you speak about the Wounded Warriors as well."

John looked at his team members one by one. Ronon gave a slight nod. John had told him about the program when they'd had to send men home with injuries that would get them discharged. "Rodney? Teyla?"

"It does not sound appropriate to bring Torren to such an event, but I will not mind if the rest of you go," Teyla said. "I am equally sure that I did not bring any clothing nice enough to wear."

"I was planning on getting a sitter for the kids. Mrs. Felts is really good with children and I know she wouldn't mind if you wanted to leave Torren with her as well," said Cindy. "And if you decide to come, I'm sure I can find something for you. We're pretty close to the same size."

Teyla smiled and dipped her head once. "It would be nice to get away for an evening."

Rodney sighed. "Well, if the rest of you are going, I might as well."

"There will be an outstanding spread of food," said Dave with a grin.

Rodney's eyebrows went up briefly before he schooled his expression. "Yes, well, I suppose it would be only proper that we put in an appearance, them being your neighbors and all."

John slid a look at his brother, who briefly lifted one eyebrow at him. No wonder his brother was so good in the business world. He pegged people pretty quickly. "Looks like we're going. Are suits okay or do we need tuxes?"

Dave shrugged one shoulder. "Suits should be fine. It's usually a mix. Charles will probably just be glad to see you again."

John sipped his coffee, wondering if that would be the case at all. John hadn't really talked to the man since Tyler was killed and he couldn't help but wonder how he felt about John's role in Tyler becoming a Ranger. Ronon's eyes lingered on him, making John wonder how much he was figuring out. "What time tonight?"

"Six. I should be home early this afternoon to get ready."

John nodded. "Want us to work on that problem we discussed last night?"

Dave frowned, staring out across the room for several seconds. "No, that's okay. I think we'll revisit it this weekend since you guys will be here. That way if we need to run up to the office, there won't be many people there."

"I will need to look at your computer system," said Rodney.

Dave nodded as he stood. "I thought as much. Sunday afternoon would be the best time. There shouldn't be more than a couple of people up there. I've got to get out of here if I'm going to make it home by four." He kissed Cindy on the cheek and told the kids goodbye.

John looked across the table at Daniel and Gabrielle. "So what's going on today?"

The two looked at one another and then yelled, "Swimming!"

Torren shrieked and jabbered wildly while waving his fists around, causing everyone to laugh.

"Looks like we're swimming today," said Cindy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Note: **I just want to take a moment to thank the folks reviewing as guest since I can't respond to you individually. All of the wonderful feedback has warmed my heart like a Hallmark movie (yes, I watch those and I'm sure that's no surprise).

**Chapter 3**

They ended up taking two cars to the charity dinner so no one would be too crunched. John followed Dave for almost a mile down the road to the next house. Once they had parked, he got out and opened the door for Teyla. She looked beautiful in the long, peach gown she had borrowed from Cindy.

They walked up toward the huge brick house and then followed the flow of people taking a path around to the gardens in the back. Once around the house, they stopped and stared. The gardens were gorgeous. Brick walkways wove between raised beds of all sorts of flowers, flowering bushes, and fountains. White lights were strung between scattered trellises. A wooden bridge led to a gazebo that sat on an island in the middle of a pond.

"I have never seen such beauty," whispered Teyla reverently.

"The gardens are Charlotte's passion," said Cindy. "Charlotte is Charles' wife. She has a small greenhouse up the path and past the gardens."

"She did all of this?" asked Teyla, her eyes wide.

Cindy laughed. "No, not all of it. She has a gardener that helps her keep it up and twice a year she hires a crew to come in and do some major work. But she does a lot of the work herself and she certainly plans the layout."

"David." They turned to find a man almost a tall as Ronon with thick gray hair approaching them. He smiled as he shook hands with Dave.

"Charles, it's good to see you. Thank you for clearing it for John and his friends to come."

Charles nodded. "No problem, I was happy to do it." He turned to John. "John, it's been a while," he said, his voice warm and genuine as he reached out to shake hands. "I'm so glad you could come. Tyler would appreciate it."

John swallowed hard before giving a quick nod. "Wounded Warriors is a good cause and Tyler was a good man. He would be so proud that you're doing this."

Charles took in a deep breath and blew it out, like he was trying to keep control. "Thank you. I miss him every single day. But I am proud of him and I am proud of what he accomplished, of the man he became. He died doing what he loved. I like to think we are honoring not only him, but what he stood for. Did you know he died trying to get a wounded man to cover?"

John nodded as he stuck his hands in his pockets. "I did. I understand he saved that man's life." He didn't mention that he had looked up Tyler's commanding officer to get the full story of what had happened. The guy hadn't been able to say enough about Tyler and had seemed torn up over losing him.

"Yes, he did. That young man came to see us when he got out of the hospital." Charles stopped and swiped at his eyes before continuing. "He came with his wife and young daughter to tell us how much they appreciated his bravery. It was hard, but . . . " He nodded and looked away.

John reached out to grasp Charles arm. "I know," he whispered. After a moment, Charles let out a deep breath and seemed to get himself back under control.

"I know you do. So, introduce me to your friends."

"This is my team. The big guy is Ronon Dex, this is Dr. Rodney McKay, and that's Teyla Emmagen. Guys, this is Charles Wilshire." Charles shook hands with each of the three.

"I see you gentlemen are accompanied by two beautiful women tonight," said Charles, smiling and bowing slightly.

"Why, thank you," said Cindy. "Charming as ever. We were just admiring the gardens, which are stunning by the way. Where is Charlotte so I can tell her?"

Charles turned and looked at the groups of people moving down the paths. "I don't see her. She's around here somewhere, probably fussing over a bloom." He turned back to them laughing. "You know how she gets. Look around the place. Food tables are set up down this path, close to the house. There are a few tables set up or you can sit on the benches or planters. Around nine I'll give my spiel to motivate everyone to donate. Oh, and we have a silent auction set up on some tables near the patio. I'll be around if you have questions."

"Thank you Charles," said Dave. "I'm guessing you'll have another successful night."

"Plan on it," Charles said with a nod. "I'd better go mingle some more. I'll catch up with you later. John, good to see you and it was nice to meet the members of your team." He nodded at each of them in turn before continuing down the path to greet the next group of people.

"I say let's find the food," said Rodney, rubbing his hands together.

John rolled his eyes and grinned at David and Cindy. "The food, of course. Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because that's why you have me," Rodney said smugly. "To do all the thinking." The scientist took off at a brisk walk down the brick path that led to the food, with Ronon close behind.

Teyla sighed. "We should probably join them before the food is gone."

Dave chuckled. "Oh, if Charles has the spread he usually does, that won't be a problem."

The four of them began a leisurely pace toward the food tables. The event was a toned down version of formal. Most men wore suits and women were outfitted in gowns as they strolled around the gardens, but the glamor was scaled down compared to other events he'd attended. Small round tables topped with floral tablecloths were scattered around in every available niche. Some already had people with plates of food and glasses of wine. Dave nodded or spoke to almost everyone they saw.

When they came around the edge of a huge raised bed of tulips, the food tables came into view. John would have called it a food court. There was one long table that was probably several tables arranged end on end filled with dishes of meats and vegetables being kept warm by burners below. Separate smaller tables held salads, desserts, and drinks. People milled around talking, filling plates, or looking for a place to sit.

"Wow," John said, his eyes taking it all in. "We better keep an eye on the kids or we'll need a truck to roll them out of here."

Teyla narrowed her eyes, which appeared to be directed at Rodney and Ronon trying to see how high they could stack food on their plates. "Indeed."

After filling their plates, Dave and Cindy went to sit with friends while John and Teyla tracked the boys down at a table by some wildflowers. The sun was beginning to wane and the partly cloudy sky was streaked with purple and pink. Teyla stared at the heavenly color display for a moment before setting her plate down. "Your friend selected a beautiful night for his party."

John studied the sky, finding a couple of stars just beginning to show. "Yeah, Charles always did have good timing." He looked across the table at Rodney and Ronon's plates. "You guys try to clean them out?"

"Ha, ha," mumbled Rodney between bites. "You know what we usually have to eat. I'm taking advantage while I can."

Ronon nodded and pointed to Rodney. John translated that as _what he said. _He took a bite and looked at Teyla, bobbing his head side to side in an effort to convey that maybe Rodney had a good point. The food really was spectacular.

They ate in silence for several minutes, enjoying the beautiful sunset and the cool breeze and the company. Or maybe they were enjoying not having anyone shooting at them or trying to blow them up or feed off them. Maybe Keller had a good point about them taking some time off, although John had no intention of admitting that out loud to anyone.

"I have to admit that the garden is fabulous. This seems more like a public garden or park, or maybe part of a botanical garden," said Rodney. "Has it always been this big?"

John poked at the shed tails of his stuffed shrimp. "Not always." He set his fork down so he wouldn't play with it while he talked, something his father used to hate. "I remember coming down here with my mom when I was six or seven. She and Charlotte were good friends. We would help her and Tyler work in the flower beds. She only had the two or three closest to the patio then." He rubbed the back of his neck, the memory playing out in his head like a shaky old movie.

"She loved flowers, even back then. It seemed like she added new beds every year. Eventually Charles built her a greenhouse. When I was in high school, she'd hire me to work almost full time helping her in the summers. I remember coming down here to tell her I was going away for college and it would be my last summer helping her." John stared at the flower bed so he wouldn't have to look at his team.

"She looked so sad, like when mom died. She hugged me and cried and told me how proud she was." He swallowed hard and clenched his jaw for a moment. "The exact opposite of the way my father acted."

"Your father didn't want you to go to college?" asked Rodney, his brow furrowed.

John chuckled, but it sounded bitter even to him. "Oh, he wanted me to go to college all right. His plan was for me to go to Harvard to get a business degree so I could join him in the family company. I went to Stanford and got a degree in aeronautics instead. I'm pretty sure the only thing my father was ever proud of me for was marrying Nancy and you remember how that worked out."

The silence that followed was awkward. John knew his team was struggling to find something to say and he regretted his confession. He didn't want their pity. He didn't deserve their pity. He'd known what he was doing every step of the way and he wouldn't change it if he could.

He smiled at his team, making eye contact with each in turn. "Look, it's like this. My father was a hard man to please, but I made my peace with disappointing him a long time ago. I wouldn't change my decisions. I did what I needed to do for me and if he couldn't see that . . . " He shrugged. "The point is, I'm where I want to be, where I believe I was meant to be. And with the people I want to be with. You guys are more family to me than he ever was and you know what? I'm good with that."

The tension eased, as did the expressions of his friends. He grinned at them, realizing how lucky he really was. He would do anything for these people and he had no doubt they would do the same for him. He thought back to the birthday party on the pier and the strong feeling of belonging that came with it.

Teyla clasped his hand and squeezed. "We feel that as well. I have lost my home world and most of my people. It took some time, but I now feel that I am home when we are together. I still miss my people, but it is not the crippling loss it once was. That is because of the bond we have forged through the trust and support of one another." Ronon and Rodney nodded.

After a moment of reflection, John grinned at his team. "Who's ready for coffee and dessert?"

"Yes," Rodney said, rubbing his hands together. "Did you see that dessert table?" Rodney popped up and led the way, changing course long enough to grab a dinner plate from the food line. Ronon frowned at the small plates on the dessert table, glanced at the plate in Rodney's hand, and promptly stepped over to grab a dinner plate.

John shared a smirk with Teyla as they each picked up one of the smaller dessert plates and watched their teammates pile desserts on in layers. John leaned over toward Teyla. "Where do think they're going to put all that, in their hollow leg?"

Teyla lifted an eyebrow. "I do not believe either of them have a hollow leg, but I fear they will need one before the night is over."

John sighed. "They're going to snore so loud I'll need earplugs if I plan on sleeping tonight."

oOo

"There you are." John turned to see Dave walking toward them. "You guys enjoying the food?"

All four of them nodded. "It's great," John said. "I think Rodney and Ronon have some sort of world record for the most food eaten at one meal."

"Funny," Rodney said. "I wouldn't quit my day job just yet."

Dave grinned and planted his hand on John's shoulder. "Well, eat all you want, there's plenty. I've witnessed firsthand the appetites of some of you people," he said as he looked at Rodney and Ronon. "Charles said you might want to take a walk up to the greenhouse. Charlotte is up there checking on her orchids." Dave squeezed John's shoulder.

John's grin widened. "She still does orchids?"

"Oh, she's got quite the selection these days. You'll have to see her baby."

John's eyes widened. "Did she get a lady's slipper?"

Dave seemed surprised. "She did. A yellow one I think."

John nodded. "She always wanted one, especially after mom shared the pictures she took of the ones we saw in that park. Thanks. We'll go up when they get through."

"Okay. Hey, be back down here by nine. Charles is going to make his pitch for Wounded Warriors and encourage everyone to donate in memory of Tyler. Charlotte will want to be back for that."

"We'll make sure she's back in time." John watched his brother walk back toward the house, probably to find Cindy.

Once everyone was finished, they took their dishes to one of the giant carts collecting dirty dishware. John watched for a moment as uniformed employees from the catering company began packing up empty serving dishes from the tables. He led the way to a brick path that wound around the gardens and then through a semi-wooded area to a greenhouse near the top of a hill.

The top of the hill was dark except for a light inside the greenhouse. With the lights below them and the trees providing a bit of a buffer, the milky way splashed across the dark sky above them as far as they could see. They stood, staring silently at the tiny twinkling lights.

"It is quite beautiful," whispered Teyla, as if talking would disturb the magic of the moment.

"It makes you feel really small and insignificant," said Rodney.

Ronon snorted. "Never thought I'd hear you say anything like that."

Rodney frowned. "Yes, well, even I can be impressed by a show like this," he said, waving his hand toward the sky.

John grinned. "Someone make a note, Rodney is impressed by something he didn't do."

Ronon laughed and Rodney crossed his arms. "Last time I wax philosophical with you barbarians."

"Right," John drawled. "Let's go see Charlotte and her orchids." He felt his team following as he led the way to the greenhouse. It was about fifteen feet wide and twenty-five feet long. Vents were open along the top of the roof. Condensation clung to the glass walls, making the inside murky at best. John opened the door and stepped inside. "Charlotte?"

"It's like a sauna in here," said Rodney, stepping in behind him. John looked over his shoulder and Rodney shrugged. "What? I'm just saying."

"Greenhouse, Rodney," John said as he moved into the building. There was a potting table beside the door, complete with sink and large bins for soil and mulch. Shelves on the wall contained all kinds of tools and gloves. A large table of metal mesh extended the length of each side with another down the middle, creating two walkways. The middle table was divided in the center of the room by a short crosswalk connecting the two long corridors. Plants adorned about two thirds of the surfaces, some flowering, some not.

An athletic-looking woman with short, gray hair appeared from behind a cluster of large potted ferns near the end of the middle table. Her long dark blue dress swished as she hurried toward them. She looked at the group for a moment before arching her brows and gasping. "John? Is it really you?" she asked as she reached them. Before he could answer, she threw her arms around him in a bear hug. John froze for a second before gradually bringing his arms around to return the gesture. He ignored the sound of Rodney and Ronon snickering behind him.

Charlotte finally released him and stood back, staring at him. "John Sheppard, as I live and breathe, it is so good to see you again. And I hear you're a Lt. Colonel now. Your mother would be so proud." She beamed at him in a way that made his face flush and his throat close. She leaned forward to whisper, "And I have to tell you that Patrick was proud of you as well, even though he could never find a way to tell you."

John's mouth was dry, his heart pounding in his chest. His immediate reaction was to doubt, but her earnest expression told him that she believed it. He didn't know why, but she did. He gave her a tiny nod, more to acknowledge the statement than to agree with it.

John took a deep breath and introduced his team. "I hear you have a certain special orchid up here."

"Yes, you must see it. It's every bit as beautiful as your mother described." She led them to the middle of the far table. In a large pot was a delicate yellow orchid, the lower lip folded back and hanging down in such a way as to look like a slipper.

"Teyla leaned forward and studied it. "We used to have a flower that grew in the forest next to the village that was very similar to this. It was a deep red. It was called the blood flower because of its color. It was very rare and it was considered an omen of good fortune to find one."

"All the flowers on this bench are orchids," said Charlotte. She grinned knowingly at John. "Orchids are my passion, but they are very hard to grow."

"I remember," John said softly. He looked at the dozens of flowers scattered across the table. There were several types and some were duplicates. Large and small and a wide range of colors.

"All of these are . . . orchids?" Teyla said, stumbling slightly over the unfamiliar word.

"Yes," said Charlotte, seeming not to notice. John knew she was in her element when talking about the orchids and he had to smile at the passion she still had. She proceeded to tell them about several of the varieties, adding in enough interesting tidbits that no one seemed bored, except maybe Ronon.

She wound down after a while and looked sheepishly at the group. "Oh, fiddle, here I am prattling on and on about a bunch of flowers. Just tell an old woman to hush. I forget not everyone is as taken with them as I am."

Teyla reached out and took her hands. "I found the information interesting and your knowledge of the plants very impressive. Thank you for sharing it with us."

John grinned. "And this is why we leave most of the negotiating to Teyla."

Charlotte smiled. "Thank you dear. Where did you say you were from?"

Rodney's eyes widened and John looked at his watch. "Oh, hey, look at the time. We're supposed to make sure you get down to Charles in time for his speech."

Charlotte sighed. "Yes, I suppose I should head down now." Her smile had dissolved and her whole body seemed to sag. "I'll never get used to the idea of Tyler being gone. Parents should not outlive their children. It just wasn't meant to be."

A knot seemed to form in John's throat, making it hard to swallow. "I'm so sorry about Tyler. I know how much you must miss him."

Charlotte nodded. "I do." She reached out and squeezed John's hand. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her chin and the smile returned, if slightly subdued. "Shall we go honor my son?"

John returned her smile. "I think that's a wonderful idea." John held out his arm and Charlotte hooked her arm around his. As they stepped out of the greenhouse, a large shadow moved to John's left. He pushed Charlotte down and ducked, twisting into the man beside the door, driving his head into the man's midsection.

They went down in a flail of arms and legs. John could feel the cool metal of a gun between them and he latched onto it as he rolled away. Spinning around to come up on his knee, he was bringing the gun up when the man in black kicked out, catching him in the elbow. The gun flew out of his hands. Before he could retaliate, Ronon appeared and knocked the man flat.

John got up and rubbed his tingling arm. "Thanks." He looked around and found Teyla kneeling beside Charlotte. "Everyone okay?"

Teyla helped the woman to her feet. "We are well. Were you injured?"

John bent his arm and wiggled his fingers. "No, he just tweaked my funny bone. I'm fine." He and Ronon turned the unconscious man over. He was dressed in black with a bear mask over his face. John pulled it back, but didn't recognize the guy.

"What's going on?" asked Rodney, staring down at the man.

John shook his head. "Charlotte, do you know this guy?"

She walked over and bent down, looking at the man's face in the moonlight. "He doesn't look familiar at all. What do you think he wanted?"

John looked around at the now dark greenhouse. "Are any of your plants rare enough to be worth stealing."

"Certainly not," she said in disgust. "What could he want? You don't think there are more of them do you?"

"I don't know." He looked at his team and knew they were all wondering if this was a Trust thing. He pulled out his cellphone and brought up his contacts, hitting Dave's name. The call immediately failed and John noticed there was no service. He was pretty sure he'd had four bars just down the road at Dave's house. "Charlotte, do you guys have trouble with cell phone service?"

She immediately shook her head. "No, never."

John looked over to see Rodney staring forlornly at his own cell phone. He looked up and met John's eyes, shaking his head. John sighed. He didn't know what was going on, but one thing was certain. There were in deep trouble.

John looked down the hill, trying to see past the trees. Bits of light flickered between the branches, but that wasn't a lot of help. He considered what they knew and what they should do as Ronon tied and gagged their attacker before stashing him in the greenhouse. "He conscious yet?"

Teyla shook her head. "No, he is not. I do not believe he will be for some time."

John nodded. "Okay. Since we don't know what's going on, we don't have time to wait. Rodney, you and Teyla take Charlotte back to the house. If you can get in safely, do it and use their land line to call for help. If you can't, make your way back down to Dave's. His is the closest house and we're going to need help."

Ronon appeared at John's side, holding the gun from the their attacker. John took it and handed it to Teyla. "Take this in case you run into trouble." Making eye contact, he said, "Keep Charlotte safe."

Pressing her lips together, she nodded. "What about you and Ronon?"

John looked at the big man, seeing the determination in his eyes and his expression. "Ronon and I are going to check the gardens, see if we can figure out what's going on and try to make sure no one gets hurt." At Ronon's small, silent nod, he turned to Charlotte. "You okay with that? We can let you hide out in the greenhouse, but I hate to leave you alone in case someone comes up to check on our friend."

Charlotte, straightened and drew her lips into a thin line. "I'll not cower up here when I can do something to help. I can lead them to the house without going through the gardens. The trees should hide us almost all the way to the back entrance at the far end of the house."

John grinned at her. "I figured. Promise you'll be careful and do everything they tell you. This is what we do. They'll keep you safe."

Charlotte took his hands and squeezed them as she looked at his eyes. "I promise . . . on the condition that you be careful." She tilted her head down to look at him from under her eyebrows, a look he had been on the receiving end of many times before. "You know as well as I do that if either of us gets hurt, Dave will be furious."

"Yeah, I know. But someone's got to look after Dave and Cindy and Charles." Her smile faltered and he squeezed her hand. "We'll take care of them. You let Rodney and Teyla take care of you. I trust them with my life and I trust them to protect you."

Her smile broadened again. "Then I trust them as well. Stay safe." She let go and began leading the way around the back side of the copse of trees next to the greenhouse. Rodney and Teyla both gave him a nod.

He hated this whole situation. They didn't know what was going on or what kind of firepower they would face. His team was divided, mostly unarmed, and without communication. They were also without backup. He looked up into Ronon's face.

"We've faced worse Sheppard. We have an advantage. If there are more, they don't know we're onto them or that we're trained. Whatever is going on, they're expecting a bunch of soft rich businessmen." Then he pulled his mouth back in that toothy grin of his that made him look dangerous. Somehow that filled John with confidence and he returned the smile.

Even if the Trust was involved, they obviously hadn't been expecting John and his team or they would have sent more than one man. "You're right. Let's go save the day."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

John and Ronon crept down the hill, moving through the trees and then cutting between the beds of flowers to avoid the serpentine brick pathway. Staying in the shadows, John hoped they were invisible to the people standing near the little white lights strung all over the main gardens. They were still partway up the hill when they peeked over the edge of one of the raised beds.

It appeared everyone was sitting or standing where the tables of food had been. Instead of talking and visiting in small groups as he'd expected, they all silently stared at a large man standing at the front of the gardens. He looked to be about John's height, but heavier built. He had short dark hair, his face covered with a gorilla mask, a .45 in his hand, which he waved as he encouraged the party-goers to cooperate so that no one would be hurt.

John glanced around the crowd, knowing there had to be more. He spotted a tall, thin man with a chimp mask and an automatic weapon about the time Ronon elbowed him and nodded. John followed his line of sight to a second armed guy, almost directly across from the one he'd spotted. The man's back was to him, so he couldn't see what kind of mask he wore, but he could see the elastic band holding it in place. John pointed out the guy he'd spotted and Ronon nodded. They watched for a few minutes and were about to leave when a small group came down the path from the house.

_Shoot. _John's heart rate spiked as he strained to see if Rodney, Teyla, or Charlotte were among the group of three. As they reached the main gardens, the guy at the front, who appeared to be in charge, glanced at the trio. A shorter man in a zebra mask carried a gun, which was trained on a dressed up couple who were obviously guests. He didn't recognize the couple, but they were scrambling along trying to watch the path and the guy with the gun.

Gorilla guy talked to them and then motioned for them to join the masses. John caught his voice, but not enough to hear what he was saying. Zebra mask consulted a list and then called out, "Joseph and Marsha Lewellen," a couple of times. A gray-haired couple slowly shuffled toward the masked men, the heavyset woman clutching her husband's arm. Zebra guy barked something out and gestured to the path with his weapon, urging them forward.

John looked at Ronon and motioned back with his head. They slid away from the planter and back into the woodlot, crouching beside a tree. "What do you make of that?"

"Not sure. I thought they were robbing them, but why take them to the house one couple at a time? You think McKay's group will be all right?"

John sighed. He'd been worrying about that himself. "Teyla's with him. They should be okay." He wasn't sure if he was trying to convince Ronon or himself. He wished he could go back in time and tell them just to head to Dave's house. Now he had to worry about them getting caught or shot. And they had poor Charlotte with them. What had he been thinking?

"Hey," Ronon whispered. "They'll be fine."

John looked at the big man, trying to see his expression in the little moonlight that made it through the trees. He'd apparently been reading his mind. With a deep breath, John nodded. He wasn't convinced yet, but they couldn't worry about that now. "I only saw the three guys besides the one in the house."

"That was all unless they have more people out covering the grounds."

John winced, hoping that possibility didn't come around to bite them in the rear. He glanced down toward the gardens and tried to look beyond. "Well, I guess we'll just have to be careful and keep an eye out."

"You want the one on this end or the far end?"

"I'll take this end. You probably have a better chance of making it to the other side undetected. We'll need to take them out pretty close together."

Ronon nodded. "Then go for the head guy together?"

"Yeah. By then we'll both be armed and there'll be two of us. We need to try to do it without getting civilians in a crossfire though. Meet up behind him and we'll work something out."

"Okay. Give me five minutes from the time you get in place behind your guy and I'll be ready," Ronon said. "Did you see Dave and Cindy?"

"Yeah. They're near the middle, but they both looked okay. I think our masked marauders must have robbed everyone of what they had with them because I noticed Cindy's necklace and earrings were missing."

Ronon clasped John's forearm. "We'll get everyone out, Sheppard."

John nodded, thankful for the adopted family that always had his back, both physically and mentally. Not for the first time, he wondered what he'd ever done without these people. Confidence filled him as he thought of all his team had survived, of all they were capable of. "Let's do this."

They separated and John crept down to position himself behind the masked gunman. The man was standing at the back edge of one of the large planters. Tall bushes and some scattered flowering trees were directly behind the brick structure, giving John a good hiding place. When the timing was right, he scraped a branch across the brick until the gunman stepped back to check it out. After making sure the other two gunmen were looking elsewhere, he wrapped one arm around the man's throat and clamped his hand over his mouth, twisting them down and behind the planter. He'd immediately put heavy pressure across the windpipe to cut off both oxygen and blood flow to the brain. As they guy clawed at his arm, he held the pressure until the struggles slowly faded to a stop.

John eased the man face down to the ground and used the plastic zip ties he'd brought from the greenhouse to bind his hands and feet. He balled up part of the man's shirt and stuffed it in his mouth. It wouldn't hold him for an extended time, but all they needed was to gain control of the situation and hold out until the police arrived. He peered over the top of the planter just in time to see the gunman across the way go down behind another set of planters. No one seemed to have noticed as all the guests were warily watching Gorilla guy in the front, and Gorilla guy was busy keeping watch over them. Good. John faded back away from the lights to make his way around to meet Ronon.

The planters directly behind Gorilla guy were only about three feet tall, so they had to crouch down in order stay out of sight. Between the reduction in enemy forces and the fact that they were both armed now, John was feeling more confident. They had separated so that they could come out from opposite ends of the planter, but just before they made their move, Ronon threw up his hand.

Scowling, John lifted his empty hand palm up in a _what _motion. Ronon pointed to where Zebra guy was coming back down the walkway. They crouched further down as the man drew nearer. John edged up to study Zebra guy. There was something different about him.

Zebra guy looked down at a sheet of paper and called out, "David and Cindy Sheppard." The voice was muffled by the mask, but still familiar enough that John immediately looked at Ronon, whose eyebrows were raised. Rodney. John edged up to see his brother and sister-in-law walking toward Rodney, unaware of what was happening. Unfortunately, it looked like Gorilla guy was suspicious since he was staring at Rodney with a deep frown on his face.

Rodney looked up, freezing for a moment under the scrutiny before jerking his chin up in acknowledgment. "He's finishing up with the others."

John relaxed, grinning at the way Rodney was easing his brother out of the conflict zone. One less thing for him to worry about. Everything went south however as the couple walked past Gorilla guy. He grabbed Cindy and whirled around facing the planter where John and Ronon crouched, holding Cindy in front of him. "You, behind the planter. Come out."

John motioned for Ronon to stay put since he seemed to be looking John's way. His little peek had apparently been seen when Gorilla guy turned around to meet Rodney. John stood, pointing the gun toward the thief. He clenched his jaw at the sight of the gun pressed to Cindy's head. In his peripheral vision, he saw Rodney take Dave by the arm and pull him back. "Put the gun down and let her go."

Gorilla guy laughed. "I don't think so." The man was studying him, probably noting that he was in a suit and not a police uniform. He stared at the gun John held. "Where is my man?"

John smirked, trying to look relaxed. "He's taking a nap, so I borrowed his gun."

Ronon eased out from behind the planter, his gun also trained on Gorilla guy. "Your back up is gone. Do what he says and put the gun down."

John could tell the guy was getting anxious. His grip on Cindy tightened and his jaw was clenched. "I'm not going back to prison. Period. Let me walk out of here and I'll let the lady go when I get to my car."

John's eyes narrowed as he sighted down the barrel of the gun. "That's not going to happen."

"John, just let him go," Dave begged, trying to pull away from Rodney.

"He leaves with her, she's dead," said Ronon without taking his eyes off the target.

Cindy flinched, looking terrified. John was watching, trying to find a moment when Gorilla guy loosened his grip or turned in such a way he could get him without endangering Cindy when he saw the change. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, her features calming. She looked him in the eye, set her jaw, and gave an almost imperceptible nod.

John could hardly believe his eyes. From that one demonstration he'd done with Teyla, she had picked up enough to try their evasion technique. She was a gutsy lady. John dipped his head just a fraction, hoping she picked up on it. He knew she had when she slowly adjusted her stance to prepare. She wiggled her eyebrows at him just before she stomped her high heel down in the center of Gorilla guy's foot, then dropped all her weight down and rolled to the side. The shock was enough for him to let go so that she could roll away.

"Drop the gun," he yelled and heard Rodney and Ronon yelling the same. Motion from the side distracted his attention as Dave rushed for Cindy. John hesitated when Dave ran right behind Gorilla guy. In that split second, John was aware that if he missed or the bullet went through Gorilla guy, it could hit Dave. Ronon yelled at Dave to drop to the ground and fortunately he did because Gorilla guy was bringing the gun up to John.

They shot at the same time, although Gorilla guy didn't have much time to aim. John's aim was true and the man crumpled to the ground beside Cindy. John and Ronon crept forward, their guns still aimed at the still figure as Dave closed the distance between him and his wife. John kicked the thief's gun away and Ronon checked his neck for a pulse, shaking his head. The front of the man's shirt was soaked in an alarming amount of bright red blood, so John wasn't surprised. He was vaguely aware of people screaming, but ignored it for now.

Lowering his weapon, he glanced over at Cindy, Dave's arms wrapped around her. "Are you hurt?"

"No, no, I think I'm okay," she said breathlessly. She looked at John, her eyes wide and her face pale. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. You're a quick study."

"What _was _that? You could have gotten her killed with a stunt like that," snapped Dave. His eyes were wider than John ever remembered seeing and his breaths were coming in gasping pants. John reminded himself that Dave didn't have the experiences he had and was struggling to make sense of the violence.

"Dave," he said calmly, waiting for his brother to look at him. "I would never do anything to put Cindy in more danger. It was a risk, but the alternative was worse."

Cindy placed a trembling hand along the side of her husband's face, turning it to look at her. She smiled. "Dave, your brother just saved my life. I knew what I was doing and I decided the risk was worth it. I needed to give John a shot and I did. Remember, this is what he does."

Dave shuddered, but he nodded once and pulled her close, burying his face in her neck. John sighed and rubbed his face. The adrenalin was starting to fade, leaving him shaky and his side was burning. He must have scraped against one of the planters during a scuffle. Taking a deep breath, he looked up as Rodney joined them, the zebra mask in his hand.

"The house secure?"

Rodney nodded. "Charlotte is calling the police. Teyla's keeping watch in case we missed anything." He looked down at the dead robber. "Everyone okay?"

"Everyone but him," John said. Charles appeared at John's elbow, his brows furrowed deeply.

"Is that all of them? Is this over?"

John nodded. "As far as we know, this is all of them. I'd keep everyone here until the police arrive though. Not only will they want to take statements, but they could have some people patrolling the grounds that we haven't come across yet."

Charles nodded, running one hand through his already wild-looking hair. "What about Charlotte?"

"She's great," said Rodney with a grin. "Man, she's like an older version of Teyla. I wouldn't advise messing with her."

Charles' whole body seemed to sag at the good news. "Thank goodness." His eyes wandered down the body at their feet. "This guy dead?"

"Yeah, he is. Sorry about having to shoot him in front of all these people," John said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess we kind of ruined your party."

"Nope," Charles said. "I believe these criminals are the ones who ruined the party. We all owe you and your team our gratitude for stopping them." The faint sounds of sirens began drifting in on the breeze. "I'll see if I can get everyone to stay calm and wait for the police."

Charles stepped up on the ledge of one of the smaller planters and called for everyone's attention. John hadn't noticed how loud the talking and crying was until they quieted for Charles. That was what they needed, for someone to take charge. John was glad it wasn't him for once because he was beginning to feel light headed.

"I'm sorry I barked at you earlier. I was just . . . I was scared and I guess I panicked a little."

John turned around at the sound of Dave's voice and the world seemed to just keep on turning without him. He stumbled, confused by the dizziness. Sounds were warped like they were coming through a tin can or something. Strong hands grabbed his arm, steadying him.

"Sheppard?" Ronon said softly, holding John against his body to steady him.

"He's bleeding." Rodney pulled John's suit coat away from his body, making him look down. The left side of his white shirt was bloody.

"Humph," John said. "Guess his aim was better than I thought."

"Ronon, move him over here to sit on this planter until the EMTs get here." Rodney grabbed John's other arm and they shuffled him over to sit down. Rodney helped him out of his coat while Ronon stood guard. He reached his hand down toward the wound and Rodney slapped it.

"Stop that. There's nothing you can do for it."

John growled and pulled the shirt away. It was a long rip, and he could feel the burning all along the side of his rib cage. He took a deep breath, paying attention to the pain. "I think the bulled just grazed me. It feels more like a gash than a bullet wound." Now that he was sitting, he didn't feel so light headed.

He looked up in time to see Rodney roll his eyes and turn to Dave and Cindy, who looked worried. "He's saying it's a flesh wound. Any time now he'll jump up and say he's fine."

"I think I'm disturbed that he is this familiar with how different bullet wounds feel," said Dave.

The sirens had gotten loud before cutting off and now they could see several policemen in bulletproof vests cautiously marching down the walkway from the house. "Ronon, lay the gun down," John said. At some point, Rodney had taken his gun and set it on the planter. He was a little disturbed that he didn't remember that happening.

The police spread out, asking everyone to keep still and keep their hands out where they could be seen. They took the guns away and Charles briefly filled them in about what had happened. John and Ronon told an officer where they put the men they had taken down. John was really glad they had been able to do that without killing anyone else. Once they found out John had killed the only casualty, they kept an officer with him.

John was escorted to the house to be treated by the paramedics. He decided they also wanted to separate him from the others. The detective who questioned him while the medic cleaned his wound was abrupt at first, asking him the same questions in different ways in an apparent attempt to trip him up. John calmly answered him, confident that their investigation would clear him of any wrongdoing.

"Are you about finished with your questions?" asked the medic. "The wound track is pretty deep. This guy needs a mess of stitches and they're going to want to check for fractured ribs and make sure it didn't nick a lung."

Detective Larson closed his notebook, pursing his lips. "Yes, we're done for now. Colonel Sheppard, I assume you and your party won't be leaving town any time soon."

John nodded, exhaustion suddenly weighing his limbs down. "We're staying with my brother about a mile down the road. You can reach us there. If you'll call the number I gave you, they'll vouch for everything I've told you."

"I will." The man sighed and looked at John, his shoulders suddenly slumping. "It's nothing personal, colonel. There's a lot going on here tonight and a lot of people could have been hurt. From what I've heard, you probably saved lives, but I learned a long time ago to get all the facts before coming to a conclusion."

John flashed the guy a small smile. "I understand. I'm afraid I've had to learn that lesson myself a couple of times." The whole fiasco with the Genii would probably haunt him forever.

The officer's eyes strayed down to the scars visible outside the bandage circling his midsection. "I guess you have." He looked at the medic. "You can take him to the hospital."

"May I accompany him?"

All eyes turned to Teyla, who had stepped in the doorway to the den. "Fine by me," said the medic as he helped John up from the couch.

"I'll let your brother and friends know," said Larson as he left the room.

John looked down at Teyla as she walked over to stand in front of him. "You okay?" he asked, noting a scrape on her cheek. She smiled and nodded.

"I am well." Placing her hands on his shoulders, she bowed her head forward. He returned the gesture, pausing as their foreheads touched. When they straightened, he noticed the medic staring at them.

"Guess we'd better go." His first step wobbled and both Teyla and the paramedic grabbed an arm to steady him. "I'm good." It was all he could do not to complain when they both held onto him until they were out the front door and climbing into the back of the ambulance. He had no desire to ride in an ambulance but figured it would stir up more trouble to refuse than just to go along with it.

"We don't have to run the siren," the medic said as he closed the door.

John sighed. "Thanks. This is humiliating enough."

The medic chuckled. "Military guys," he muttered under his breath. John scowled at Teyla when she grinned at the comment.

John was further annoyed when he got dizzy and the two worrywarts he was riding with made him lie down. He closed his eyes, replaying the scene with Gorilla guy and Cindy. He was so proud of her. She'd not only picked up on exactly what to do in that situation but been brave enough to enact it. If she hadn't . . . He shuddered thinking about what could have happened. And Dave running around behind Gorilla guy. If he hadn't seen him and shot him by mistake. So many ways the whole situation could have gone wrong.

Teyla gripped his hand. "They are safe, John."

He opened his eyes and looked up at her. "Reading minds?"

"I know you. You did what you needed to do, as we all did. Everyone is safe. Do not think about what could have gone wrong."

John's eyebrows rose. "Wow, you do read minds. I know you're right, but . . . it's hard not to think about it."

She looked at him in that way where she seemed to be reading his soul. "Then tell me more stories of you and David when you were children. I believe he mentioned a time when you let the horses out and tried to hide it from your parents."

John sighed. He was going to have to have a long talk with Dave.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

John was dozing when Dave and Ronon arrived at the emergency room. He'd been X-rayed and stitched and drugged, not necessarily in that order. He was sore and groggy and wanted to get out of there. Teyla was being very patient with his crankiness. Their soft voices woke him and he lifted his head to see who was there. "Hey," he said, his voice gruff.

The three turned around and walked over to the bed, where he was leaned back against pillows on the angled gurney. "We ready to get out of here?"

"Yes," Teyla said. "The doctor told me we could leave when our ride arrived."

"That would be us," said Dave, frowning at him.

"What?"

Dave shook his head. "Nothing."

"He's been worried," said Ronon.

"I'm fine," John said. "Help me sit up." He held his hand out and Ronon pulled him up into a sitting position. A large bandage covered much of his left torso and he gently pressed his arm to his side to support the area as he moved to stand. His torn and bloody shirt was in the biohazard trash bin and Teyla had his coat on because she'd been cold. He was debating whether to ask for it back so he didn't have to parade across the waiting room half naked when Dave held out a button up shirt.

"Here, thought you could use a shirt. We took the others home. Cindy really wanted to hug on the kids for a while."

John nodded and glanced at Teyla. He probably should have sent her with the others so she could see Torren, although he knew she wasn't traumatized like Cindy. This had been small potatoes compared to some of their missions. Actually, compared to most of their missions.

Teyla smiled. "I am fine."

John returned her smile. "I knew that."

She gave him a brief nod. "I have the doctor's instructions and prescriptions," she said, picking up a stack of papers from the table.

"What did the doctor say?" asked Dave.

John sighed. "Bullet made a furrow between a couple of ribs. Tore up the muscle and cracked the ribs, but it didn't get past the muscles. So I'll be sore, but nothing serious."

"Good. Let's get you guys home," said Dave. "Torren's asleep by the way. I think Daniel and Gabrielle wore him out."

"I believe I enjoy not having to be the one to do that," she said as they left the room. "It is too bad we are not close enough I could borrow your children on occasion."

David laughed. "That really is too bad. I can see where that would benefit us both at times."

John laughed and then groaned. "Oh, stop. No making me laugh."

The trip home was a little slice of hell. The numbing agent had worn off and every motion was like a burning streak of lightning across his side. The intercostal muscles damaged were the main breathing muscles, so between them and his cracked ribs, every breath hurt. Jostling around in the car wasn't helping. Pharmacies were all closed, so it would be tomorrow before he got his pain medicine filled. Normally he wasn't a fan of pain medication, but he would have gladly taken them tonight.

By the time they arrived at Dave's house, he wasn't sure he could get out of the car, even with help. Ronon opened his door and stood there, waiting for him to make a move. After a few moments of sitting still, the pain let up enough he made himself get out of the car. Thank goodness Dave had an SUV that sat high enough he could slide out to the ground. He stood slightly hunched, with his right hand on the car and his left wrapped around his midsection, dreading the walk into the house.

"John?"

He looked up at Dave. "It's okay, just give me a minute."

"I'll get him in," said Ronon, dismissing the others. John knew the former runner was trying to get rid of his audience and he was grateful.

"Come, Dave. We should go in and check on Cindy." Teyla looked back at him with a tiny nod and then guided a reluctant Dave into the house. He really did have the best team.

After several moments, John slowly straightened and let go of the car. He thought if he moved slowly enough, the uptick in pain wouldn't be too bad. "Okay, I'm ready."

John shuffled forward, taking small slow steps. He knew he was breathing too shallowly, but he'd do some deep breathing when he wasn't trying to walk. One set of pains at a time. Ronon matched his steps, ready to catch him if he stumbled. By the time the big man opened the door for him, he was sweating and wondering if he was going to make it. Cindy was hovering just inside the door with Teyla right behind her. He almost laughed at Teyla's _I tried to talk her out of this _expression.

"Where do you want to go?" asked Ronon. It was almost midnight and John was exhausted. Plus, if he sat down on that couch, it was going to take a crane to get him back up.

"Bed I think." Crap, that meant going down the stairs. At least it was down and not up.

"Can I get you anything?" asked Cindy.

John shook his head. "No, I'm fine. I think I just want to lie down and go to sleep."

She nodded, chewing on her lower lip. "I'll get those prescriptions filled first thing tomorrow morning. I'm so sorry, John."

John stopped and studied her pale face and watery eyes. "Cindy, none of this is your fault. I'm just glad everyone is okay." At her pained expression, he smiled. "I'm sore, but I'm okay. I'm glad we were there because otherwise, this might have been a lot worse."

She nodded and he was glad to see her features relax. She smiled up at him and then reached up to kiss him on the cheek. "Thank you again."

"You're welcome, again." He grinned at her. "Although I may have to talk to my brother about his choice of dinner places. Every time I go out to eat with you people I get shot."

"And you didn't even have on a loud shirt this time," said Dave, coming in from the kitchen with a grin.

John smirked. "Yeah, kind of kills my theory that the shirt attracted trouble."

Dave sobered. "Thank you, John. I'm sorry I panicked and ran across your line of sight. In retrospect, that was stupid of me."

John shrugged his right shoulder and it still managed to pull on his left side somehow. "I understand why you did it. I'll leave the boardroom to you and you leave active shooters to me and we should fare much better."

"Deal," Dave said. "Need any help getting downstairs?"

Rodney came up to stand on the opposite side from Ronon. "We've got him."

"It's a team thing, but thanks. See you guys in the morning." John let his teammates help him down the steps. He heard Dave say they really were like family from behind him and smiled.

oOo

The night was fairly miserable. John hurt. And every time he tried to change positions, it was like he was being ripped open. Why couldn't Gorilla guy have shot him in the arm or leg? Every movement seemed to affect his midsection, including breathing. He'd doze off only to snap away at a flash of pain. By the time the dark of night began graying into morning, he was more than ready.

John was also pretty sure Ronon or Rodney or both of them wandered in and out to check on him several times, which meant none of them actually got any sleep. Adding to his inability to sleep was the gnawing realization that he still didn't know what had really been going on with the attack on the fundraiser. The first thing he was doing when everyone was awake was to ask if anyone had a clue what the men had been after. Clearly it had been more than a simple robbery.

Ronon glided into the room and John looked up at him. "Help me up please."

"You sleep any?" asked the big man as he guided John to a sitting position.

John closed his eyes, letting the burn in his side calm down before answering. "Not much. You?"

Ronon shrugged. He was such a big talker. "I need some coffee." He reached out and Ronon pulled him up to standing, hanging onto his arm until he stabilized. "Thanks." As he shuffled out the bedroom door, he realized he needed a pitstop first. When he came out, Rodney and Ronon were waiting.

Mounting the stairs was fun in a _see if you can do this without screaming _sort of way. He had to stop and rest at the top of the steps before proceeding to the kitchen. Rodney went ahead to start the coffee, but when they finally made it, Dave and Cindy were already there in spite of the early hour. Everyone was sporting dark circles under their eyes and slumping shoulders.

"I think we're all going to need naptime this afternoon," said John, easing himself into a chair as Rodney brought him a steaming cup.

Dave snorted. "That's if we make it until then."

John sipped the coffee, reveling in the mellow taste. "Hmm, this is good stuff."

"Nectar of the gods," said Rodney, sitting down across from him. Ronon stared at them like they'd grown another head. The big man had never understood their love affair with the beverage.

"Does anyone know what was going on last night?" asked John. "Who were those guys? What were they after?"

Dave joined them at the table, but Cindy took a seat at the bar. "Not all of it," he said. "Charles was about to make his speech in support of Wounded Warriors when that guy in the gorilla mask and three friends come out brandishing their guns. They herded everyone to that central area, waving those guns and threatening to shoot anyone that didn't cooperate. The guy in the zebra mask came around with a bag and they told us to put all our valuables in there – jewelry, wallets, watches, phones, everything. I tried to text you, but there was no service."

"They had a jammer to block cell signals," said Rodney, frowning slightly. "When we went into the house, they had two guys patrolling the halls. There were only a couple of staff members there at the time and they had tied them up and locked them in the pantry. Zebra mask guy had a computer set up and was having people transfer money into an offshore account. He had a list of the guests and the amount they wanted transferred like they knew what each couple had available."

Dave frowned and clenched his jaw for a second. "So they had inside information, both about the guests and what they were worth."

Rodney shrugged. "Sounds like it." He looked at John. "We were not on the list."

Dave looked up at that. He seemed to be thinking a moment and then looked at John. "I called Charles at the last minute to see if you could come. The official invitations went out a few weeks ago. Someone had that original list and researched them. Only Charles and Charlotte knew you guys were coming."

John nodded. "That combined with us being out of pocket when they came in is the reason we were able to get control of the situation."

"I'll talk to Charles later today and see if he knows any more. I'd like to know who these people are," said Dave. They all nodded, silently contemplating the events of the night before.

Dave stood and stretched. "As long as we're all up at the crack of dawn, how about I get breakfast started. Bacon and eggs or pancakes?"

Rodney said, "Yes."

They all looked at him a moment before laughing. "All of the above then," said Dave, winking at Cindy. "You guys make yourselves at home and we'll cook."

Teyla and Torren came down as they were moving to the living room. John eased into the recliner, thinking it would be easier to get out of later. Torren played with toys in the middle of the room while Rodney channel surfed through the endless supply of Saturday morning cartoons. Occasionally Torren would look up and watch for a few moments.

Gabrielle came down about thirty minutes later and walked over to stand in front of John, rubbing her eyes. After a big yawn, she leaned forward, studying him. John grinned at her. "What's going on?"

"Mommy said you got hurt last night."

"It's just a scrape." Rodney snorted and John glared at him briefly before turning back to his niece. "I'm okay, just a little sore."

She studied him a moment more and then nodded. "I'm glad you're okay. You're my favorite uncle."

John raised an eyebrow. "That's nice since I'm your only uncle."

She smiled sweetly at him. "Gary is my uncle because he's married to Aunt Heather. But he's boring and mom said he thinks he's better than us."

Rodney choked on the coffee he was drinking, barely getting his hand up in time to keep from spraying the carpet in front of him. Cindy picked that moment to come into the room. "Breakfast is ready."

Everyone froze, staring at her until she crossed her arms and scowled at them. "What?" she snapped.

The team exchanged looks trying to figure out what to say. Ronon finally jumped to his feet. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm starved."

John grinned at Gabrielle, relieved at the change of subject. "Translation: I hope you guys made a ton of food."

"Never fear, there's plenty," Cindy said, shaking her head. Looking at Gabrielle, she said, "Come on honey. Daddy and I made breakfast. Where's your brother?" 

"He's still asleep," she said. Suddenly her eyes widened and her face lit up. "Can I wake him up?" John chuckled, thinking this was not likely to be a calm event.

Cindy frowned. "How about I go with you?"

"Aw, mom," the girl drawled as they walked off together.

"I almost feel sorry for Daniel," said Rodney.

Breakfast was a huge affair with enough bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, and pancakes to feed an army . . . or Rodney and Ronon. John eyed the mountain of food for a moment before saying, "You cannot keep feeding us like this. I can't even try to run some of it off right now."

"Leave them alone, colonel. They are just being excellent hosts. I could so get used to this," Rodney said as he piled pancakes on his plate.

Torren put away two pancakes in short order, surprising everyone. Dave was unusually quiet and kept slipping furtive glances toward John, making for an awkward ambiance. The kids were excused first, followed by Teyla hauling off Torren to hose him down. John watched Dave poke his leftover bit of pancake for a while before looking at Ronon. Ronon might not be a big talker, but he was much better at picking up on silent cues than Rodney would ever be. With a tiny nod, he stood and poked Rodney in the shoulder.

"Come on. I need to show you something."

Rodney's head popped up and he stared at Ronon. "What? Now?"

Ronon nodded. "Yes, now. Come on or I'm dragging you out of here."

Rodney looked at John, his eyebrows almost to his hairline. "Do you know what this is about? What could he possibly have to show me that I . . . Ow! What are you . . . just give me a second." Rodney slapped Ronon's hand away from where he'd grabbed his upper arm and muttered to himself as he scrambled out of the chair. "I'm _coming _Conon, now quit grabbing me."

Cindy slid her hand across her mouth in an effort to hide her smile as she stood. "I'm going to head to the pharmacy. I'll do the dishes when I get back." She looked at Dave for a couple of seconds and then kissed him on the cheek and patted his arm.

Once they were alone, John sat and waited. The room was silent except for the gentle ticking of the clock on the wall. David was staring at the table as if a script would boil up from the center and tell him what to say. John gave up and decided to get the ball rolling. "So, are we going to address the elephant in the room?"

Dave startled at the sound of his voice, but it got his attention. He looked up at John and John didn't like what he saw in his brother's eyes. Fear. Revulsion. John sighed.

"You killed that man. Just shot him in the chest and killed him. Like it was nothing."

John stared at his brother, his brother who didn't have a clue what it was like to be in that situation. His brother, who only knew the safety of living in a relatively civilized community where bad things rarely happened and when they did, it usually didn't involve a fight for your life. Dave was sheltered and John had to remind himself that he really didn't understand.

"Taking a life is never _like nothing." _John shook his head and looked away a moment while he composed his thoughts. "I've had to kill people, more than I would like to admit. He wasn't the first and he won't be the last. But I don't take it lightly. You have to understand that in my world, life and death decisions take place in fractions of a second. If you hesitate to analyze all the possibilities you die, or worse, the people you are supposed to protect die. When you're well trained, the actions are so fast that they're more instinct and reflexes than thought out decisions. And you deal with the psychological fallout later because there isn't time in the field."

John fiddled with his napkin a moment and looked back up at Dave, who at least looked like he was considering what John had said. "That man made a decision to arm himself, to invade the home of someone else, and to threaten to harm or kill others to get what he wanted. He knew the possibility . . . no, the likelihood that eventually he would be challenged by someone and that either he would have to kill or be killed. He made that decision. The people we fight in my job, they make decisions. They decide to take up arms against others. Just like I made a decision to take up arms to defend the people of this country."

Dave looked at him, lips pressed together. "I guess . . . " He ran a hand through his hair. "I always thought of you flying planes, not taking out people on the ground, not shooting people."

"Yeah, well, the military likes people to multitask sometimes. And shooting or bombing people from an airplane leaves them just as dead." John looked back down at his plate, trying not to think about his brother seeing him as a killer. After a few moments of silence, he looked back up at the thoughtful face across the table. "Would you have preferred we did nothing? That we ignored it all and sat around on that hill by the greenhouse?"

Dave narrowed his eyes a little. "Was that ever a choice for you, to sit around and do nothing?"

John tipped his head to the side once. "Probably not. But I'm asking what you wish we'd done. Do think it would have been better to let them get away with it?"

Dave huffed out a breath and scratched the back of his neck. "I don't know, maybe. It's not like I know the guy that got killed, but . . . " He shook his head.

"You've never seen someone killed right in front of you before."

After a moment, Dave nodded. "I know Stanley was killed in the restaurant, but I didn't actually see it happen. This guy practically fell at my feet when you shot him. I keep thinking it was just money. A life is worth more than any amount of money."

John's eyebrow went up as he thought about the possibility of Dave not being consumed with money. At Dave's frown, he leaned forward to emphasize his point. "It's not just money. What was he going to do with it? That was a pretty sophisticated set-up for simple thieves."

Dave straightened, cocking his head. "You think it was for terrorists or something?"

John was thinking maybe the Trust, but he couldn't say that. "Maybe. And even if they weren't raising money for terrorists or guns or drugs, what if they did this again and killed an innocent person? How would we feel if we could have prevented it? You have to look at the big picture."

Dave sighed and ran his hand through his hair again. "I know that. I live in the corporate world, remember?" he said bitterly. After a moment he looked up and met John's eyes. "Thank you for saving Cindy."

John smiled. "I've grown kind of fond of her and all her meddling into our restored relationship. Although I'm guessing from this we still have some work to do."

"Yeah, more than I thought. I've been sitting here judging you for taking action and you've been judging me for my perceived love of money." He snorted at John's surprise. "I saw your expression while ago. I make my living reading people's expressions."

John sighed and gave a short nod. "I should have figured. I'll bet you're just as dangerous in the corporate world as I am in the military one."

Dave flashed John a genuine smile. "You bet I am."

Rodney stuck his head in. "You guys done yet because I need more coffee?"

John waved him in and Rodney practically hopped over to the coffee pot. Grinning, he glanced back at his brother. "We okay?"

Dave nodded. "Oh, yeah, we're okay."

"It fades. Seeing something like that doesn't actually go away, but it fades to the background where it doesn't . . . " John waved his hand in a circle, trying to make the proper words come.

"Where you don't think of it so often, and when you do, it's not quite so clear and disturbing, almost like a dream that's fading away." Both men looked up at Rodney as he turned from filling his cup. "What? I was once a lab oriented, non-violent scientist, remember. I had to learn this stuff to survive." He sipped his coffee and made a pleased, humming sound. "The important thing to remember here is that your family and friends are alive and well." And with his pearls of wisdom delivered, the scientist left.

After a few moments, Dave looked back around at John. "That's some team you have there."

John grinned. "They're the best," he said proudly.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

After breakfast, Rodney accompanied Dave to the office in order to continue their hunt for the company thief. Ronon and the kids went swimming. Teyla borrowed a suit from Cindy, so she could bob Torren around in the water, which he apparently loved judging from the splashing. John parked his sore old body in a lounger under a shade tree, far enough from the pool to be out of the splash zone. Well, mostly. When Cindy returned with his pills, she brought him a dose along with a tall glass of iced tea and a pillow. Maybe being fussed over wasn't _so _bad.

John fell asleep to the splashes and happy squeals of the children as the pain levels faded and his body melted into the soft chair. The happy screams became screams of terror, of families being ripped apart by a sea of mud crashing through their homes. He kept pushing through the thick mud, trying to reach Caluah. Every time he got close enough to make a grab for the boy, the flow would jerk him away, the boy screaming for help and reaching for him. John called his name, pleading with him to keep his head up, that he was coming for him.

A sudden pressure on his shoulder had him jerking upright, his mouth clamping shut to muffle his yell. Blinking, he focused on Dave standing over him, a deep frown on his face. "You awake now? I think you were dreaming."

John took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, trying to calm his pounding heart. "Yeah, I'm awake. Thanks." He immediately began trying to get up, moving too fast and pulling the wound in his side.

"Slow down," said Dave, sitting in the chair beside him. The pool was empty and the shade had moved considerably, leaving him behind. He wiped the sweat from his brow. "I can't believe they left you out here in the sun like that."

John was still trying to check out his surroundings, figure out where everyone was and how long he'd been asleep. His brain felt like it was drifting in a fog and he couldn't seem to focus his thoughts. He scrubbed at his face. "What time is it?"

"Almost 11:30. Cindy's getting lunch together. Ronon and the kids are changing clothes."

They sat in silence for several moments while John tried to kick start his brain. "You guys figure anything out?"

Dave shrugged. "Rodney says he'll have it by tomorrow, but I have no idea what he did or what he found out."

One side of John's mouth turned up. "Yeah, he's like that. You'll know when he's figured it out and he'll expect lots of praise and adoration."

"Hey, he'll get it if he can tell me who the thief is and how he's doing it." They sat for another few moments and John almost nodded off. He jerked his head up just as it started to droop. "You okay?"

John brought his eyes up to meet Dave's and he saw a lot more concern there than he expected. "Yeah, I just . . . " He waved his hand around a moment until he felt like he was turning into Rodney, then dropped it back to his lap. "I hate pain meds. Makes me feel all spaced out."

Dave smiled. "I can tell."

John managed a frown. "Are you making fun of me?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

John sighed. "Right. Help an old man up, would ya'?"

Chuckling, Dave got up and pulled his brother to his feet. "See, I can be nice."

"Whatever," John said with a smirk.

The door opened as they got to it and Ronon held it as they came in the house. His hair was still damp from the pool and he smelled like chlorine. "There's a couple of those detectives from last night here."

"Really?" said Dave.

Ronon nodded. "Cindy told the kids to watch TV down in the family room while we talk."

They arrived to find everyone else in the kitchen and seated. The detective John had talked to the night before, Larson, was there along with a younger guy he thought he remembered seeing interview others at the scene. Lunchmeat and cheese were set out on the bar, along with bowls of chips and dip, bread, plates, and condiments.

"Detectives, would you care for a sandwich or something to drink?" asked Cindy, rubbing her hands together.

"No," said Detective Larson, "But thank you for the offer. We wanted to update you about what we know." He looked at John, furrowing his brow. "Colonel Sheppard, you and your friends seem to have friends in high places. I sent out some inquiries last night to check out your credentials and my boss got a phone call from someone in the governor's office vouching for the four of you and advising us to back off with the inquiries."

John ducked his head in response to the stares from the detectives and his family. "Yeah, uh, we do a lot of really classified work so our bosses are pretty protective of us."

"They should be as many times as we've saved the world," said Rodney with an exasperated partial eye-roll.

John jerked his head around to glare at the scientist, as did the others on his team. Rodney's eyes widened at their response. "What?"

"Saved the _world_?" said Dave, his voice full of skepticism.

"World?" Rodney squeaked and then huffed. "No, no, I didn't say world, or if I did, I didn't mean that. I mean, how ridiculous. How could we save the world?" As always, Rodney was a terrible liar, but since no one could fathom anyone actually saving the world, they let it pass.

"What Rodney is trying to say is that what we do is essential for national security," said John, dragging eyes away from the nervous scientist and back to the detective.

"Right," Larson said. He was studying them and John knew he was trying to figure out what was really going on.

"Did you find out more about the guys trying to pull this off?" asked Ronon. John resisted the urge to look at the big man and give him a nod for helping distract the officer.

Larson pursed his lips a moment and then nodded. "The leader of the group, the one who was killed, was a man named Darren Alder. He's apparently been on the FBI's radar for a couple of years. They suspect he's been involved in several things; hijacking trucks full of cargo, some jewelry store break-ins, an armed truck robbery. They've never been able to get enough evidence to even think about arresting him."

"Weird thing, though," said the younger detective. "The level of technology he used in this heist is way above what he's been using. We aren't sure if he's hooked up with a more upscale partner or if he just added a technology guy that give their group talent a big boost."

John glanced around to meet Rodney's eyes. He could tell the scientist was wondering the same thing he was wondering about possible Trust involvement. "You have any idea who that might be?" asked Larson.

John looked around and rubbed his face. "Maybe, but it's classified. I'll let my superiors know; they might want to check it out."

"I have a question," said Rodney. "They seemed to have lot of inside information. They had a list of the guests along with the amount of money each should transfer into an account that had been set up."

Larson nodded. "Apparently Mr. Wilshire has . . . or rather had an assistant named Jeff Colby that recently asked for a large pay raise, believing that he was not being properly compensated for his services. Mr. Wilshire refused. When one of Alder's men approached Colby for information about the guests attending this event, he was only too happy to comply. We picked him up this morning. At this point, I believe he regrets that decision."

"I'll bet," David said. "I was never impressed with that guy. Charles only kept him on as long as he did because he hates firing people unless they've done something grossly negligent. Jeff was mostly just inefficient and was getting less and less dependable."

"Well, he gave Alder's technology guy enough information about each guest that they were able to figure out how much each had readily available. Two people had already transferred money into their account. We got on this fast enough that we were able to get the account frozen before anyone could move it." Larson looked around the table. "If he'd managed to pull this off, they were going to make almost seventy-five million on the transfers."

"Wow," John said. "If this heist was just for them, they'd have been set for quite a while."

The young detective chuckled. "They're all really pissed at Colby for not warning them about you four. They were expecting a lot of soft socialites who wouldn't put up a fight. Then you four show up and take them down. I think most of them are in shock at this point." He narrowed his eyes. "What exactly do you four do?"

John smiled at the junior detective. "I'm Air Force, but exactly what we do is classified."

"That's all you're going to get from him," said Dave. "I'm his brother and he won't tell me anything either." Dave smirked at him and John grinned. It was the first time Dave had mentioned the subject without acting like it bothered him.

Larson nodded as if he'd expected as much. "By the way, how are you doing today colonel?"

"I'm good," John said. "Sore, but it's not bad as long as I move slowly."

"Is John in any sort of trouble for shooting Alder?" asked Dave, his expression sobering.

Larson shook his head. "No. Your statement matches that of everyone who was in a position to see. And since everyone was terrified, they were all paying attention. Everyone agrees you fired in self-defense and the wound in your side verifies that. No charges will be filed."

"Good," Dave said, shoulders dropping in relief. John hadn't really been worried. He knew the shooting was justified and that witnesses and facts would bear that out.

"We'll let you folks get to your lunch," Larson said with a wave toward the food-laden bar. "We just wanted to let you know where things stood. Depending on how things go, we may need some of you to testify in court later."

"I'll get you some contact information before we leave," said John. He pressed his arm to his side for support as he pushed to his feet. "Thank you for coming by." He held out his hand to Larson. John and Dave shook hands with both detectives and then Dave walked them to the door while Cindy went to get the kids.

oOo

Sunday after lunch John insisted on accompanying Dave and Rodney to the office. Mostly he wanted to get out of the house because he was sick of lying around. Every time he sat down for more than a few minutes, he dozed off and it was starting to annoy him. While Rodney went to work at the computer, Dave showed John around like a kid showing off his schoolroom to a parent. It relieved him that his brother was so proud of the company he'd helped build.

By the time they got back to the computer Rodney was using, the scientist was sitting with his arms crossed and a smug expression on his face. "Gary Carter."

Dave froze. "It's Gary Carter? Are you sure?"

Rodney snorted. "Like I would tell you a name before I was sure. Come here and I'll show you. He's good, I'll give him that. But he's not as good as I am."

Rodney spent the next twenty minutes showing how Gary Carter, the financial director for the company had been embezzling money for almost two years and doing a very good job of hiding it. He'd been doing more than just redirecting money meant for repairs and improvements. John had tuned out some of the technical aspects of Rodney's explanation until he saw the scientist freeze, his fingers poised over the keyboard.

"Rodney?"

Dave looked at John and then back to Rodney. "What?"

"Give me a second." Rodney typed faster than John could think for several minutes. The rising tension in his expression and keystrokes had John's gut clenching in worry. After a moment, Rodney stilled, staring at the screen before looking up at John, worry etched on his face. He opened his mouth, glanced at Dave, then closed it.

John frowned and tilted his head. _Trust? _Rodney, apparently reading his expression, dipped his head in a small nod.

"What's going on?" growled Dave. "Quit having a silent conversation about _my _company."

John sighed and rubbed the side of his face. He looked at Rodney's raised eyebrows. "Give us the edited version."

Huffing, Rodney looked back at the screen a moment before looking at Dave. "There's a group we've had trouble with in the past. They have some very powerful members and apparently an almost unlimited supply of money and resources. They are a very dangerous group, to us and to the . . . to the country. They are all about controlling top-level technology and acquiring as much power as they can get."

Dave nodded. "Okay . . . what does that have to do with Sheppard Industries?"

Rodney swallowed and looked at John. "Look, we'll need to bring this Gary guy in and verify what I'm seeing, but as near as I can tell, he's been gathering information about the company and passing it along. Sheppard Industries has some government contracts. He's been passing that along as well. Someone is keeping an eye on this company . . . a very close eye."

"You think it's because of the company or because of the tie to me and what we do?" John asked. He saw Dave jerk his head around in his peripheral vision, but avoided returning the stare.

Rodney sighed and shook his head. "Either? More likely a little of both. Either way, we need to get someone on this."

"Should we call the police?" asked Dave. He was beginning to look and sound irritated, probably by his seeming lack of control.

John straightened, wincing at the pull on his side, and backed away from Rodney's workstation, drawing Dave with him. He ran his hand through his hair, hoping this wasn't going to be a fight. "Look, what I need you to do is nothing." He patted the air with his hands at Dave's immediate bristling.

"Just hear me out. I wasn't kidding when I told you what my team deals with is critical national security stuff. Because of that, we deal with some pretty bad characters. If he's passing information on, it could be linked to that, either because of all the things the company is involved with or to indirectly get to us. Either way, my people need to be involved."

Dave looked skeptical, but at least he was taking time to think about it. "Is the stolen money linked to that?"

John frowned, rolling his lip under as he considered the question. "Possibly, but I don't think so. I think he's being paid to pass information along and somewhere along the way, he decided to dip into the funds on his own. I have no idea if the thefts began before or after he started passing information. Either way, I can assure you that if the people he's working for find out about his side project, he's dead. That indirectly endangers their operation."

Dave shuddered and then gave a tiny nod. "Okay, I'll let your people handle it. Just . . . keep me in the loop, okay?"

John felt like his whole body sagged in relief. He didn't want to fight Dave, but he would if necessary. "Yeah, we can do that. Rodney?"

Rodney picked up his phone. "Got it. Hey, while we're figuring out how to handle this, why don't you two make yourselves useful and hit that coffee shop down the street. I want the biggest size dark roast they have."

John grinned. "Yes, your highness. Will there be anything else?"

Rodney finished dialing and put the phone up to his ear. "Check out their pastries, see if they have anything . . . Yes, this is Dr. Rodney McKay, security code alpha niner foxtrot beta six six four." Rodney looked up and waved them off while flashing his _why are you still here _expression as he twisted the seat of his chair back around to face the computer.

"Come on, he'll probably be a while, mostly spouting technobabble we won't understand," said John, leading the way to the elevator.

Dave slid his eyes sideways to glance at his brother. John grinned, recognizing the expression. "You're surprised I let him talk to me like that."

"Well, yeah," said Dave as the elevator doors closed.

John shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, trying to figure out if his relationship with Rodney was anything that could be explained. Probably not. Half the time John didn't understand it. "Let's just say that Rodney is kind of high maintenance. Oh, he's worth it. While I'm not sure if his claim of being the smartest man on the planet is valid, I know for sure he's in the top two or three. What he does is irreplaceable."

They stepped out of the elevator and told the security guard they were going for coffee. "He's also my friend. We just . . . I don't know, kind of clicked. He's arrogant and rude and self-absorbed half the time, but he'll do anything for his team. He tries to act like he doesn't care, but I know he does because I've seen him risk his life time and time again."

"Wait, I thought he was a scientist?"

John winced, realizing he'd probably said too much.

"He is, but we . . . our base is unique. A lot of our scientists are involved with fieldwork and, to be honest, sometimes the trouble comes to us. Suffice it say that there is more to Rodney than meets the eye."

"Man, I would love to know what you guys do and where you do it. Think that will ever happen?"

John pursed his lips a moment before answering. "I think it's a possibility. Probably not soon, but I think it will eventually happen."

"Really? That would be a relief. As much trouble as it is to get hold of you sometimes, it's like you're on another planet."

John was very proud of the fact that he didn't react at all when Dave accidently hit the nail on the head. As he pulled the door to the coffee shop open, he chuckled. "Another planet. I think you've been watching too many cartoons."

They returned with four coffees, leaving one with a very thankful security guard. Rodney met them at the elevator door. "Thank goodness. After talking to those clowns, I've earned this," he said, taking the cup John handed him.

"There's a break room down this hall," said Dave, steering them in the opposite direction. Since he had the bag of pastries, Rodney followed. Dave said something about it being more comfortable, but John thought he didn't want them eating and drinking over his computers. Watching Rodney dribble crumbs all over the table made him think Dave had probably been right.

John sipped his coffee until Rodney had devoured a pastry. He grabbed the bag when the scientist tried to go for a second.

"First, tell me who you talked to and what was decided."

"Unfortunately I talked to Dr. Lee, although he isn't the worst one they have. Honestly, you'd think with a high profile –"

"Rodney," John snapped.

Rodney paused, huffed in indignation, and then nodded. "Fine, right, get to the point. Lee and I agreed that Carter did a good job of hiding where he's sending the information. We need to set him up and catch him at it. He probably feels safe since he's been doing this so long without getting caught. Lee's going to get with Carter . . . Sam Carter, not the thief Carter . . . in the morning and come up with a big fake contract proposal to send you. It'll have budget stuff on it so that you'll have a reason to run it by your financial guy. We'll be tapped into his system to see where he sends it."

Dave nodded. "Okay, sounds good. What then?"

"I've got enough evidence to show he's been embezzling, so we're good to go on that. We'll have to wait until we pick him up to freeze the account he's transferring funds to so we don't tip him off. Once we have a location on the information's destination, our people can pick him up. If it turns out none of this is linked to classified projects, we'll turn him and all the evidence over to the FBI."

Dave nodded. "Okay, I can live with that. I just want him out of here as soon as possible."

"That'll be our goal as well," John said. "We'll come in with you in the morning. I'll be your visiting brother and his friend coming in to tour the company and see what you do. Rodney can set up in your office so we'll know when he sends out the information and let the team know to take Carter into custody."

"So, bring your little brother to work day?" asked Dave with a smirk.

"Something like that," John said with a scowl. He leaned back in the hard chair, trying to relieve the pressure on his aching side.

Rodney's eyes strayed down to his side where the wound was and then flashed back up to his face. "I guess we should wrap this up and go home."

John met Rodney's eyes. "Finish what you need to. I'm fine."

John enjoyed Rodney trying to look innocent and failing miserably. "No, I'm just saying, we should get back before everyone starts to worry. I can probably slide in early and work on this, finish getting everything set up."

Dave looked from Rodney to John, his eyes widening. John flashing him a small, lop-sided grin before looking at Rodney. "Rodney, I'm fine. My big exercise for the day was getting coffee. Get everything set up and make sure Carter won't notice when he comes in tomorrow." He waved his hand at the table and chair he was sitting in. "I'm sitting down. Go. I'm finishing my coffee."

Rodney sighed and dipped his head. "Fine. But let me know if you change your mind." He grabbed another pastry and his coffee and left, mumbling to himself about foolish ingrates.

Dave watched him go, staring at the doorway long after the scientist was out of view. He finally looked over at John. "Huh, I guess there is more to Rodney McKay than meets the eye."

John grinned. "Told you." He grabbed the bag and dug inside for a moment, finally pushing it away with a disgusted sigh. "That jerk took my bear claw."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

John was getting antsy. Dave had gone to his office to get some work done and John had ended up digging around in the break room so he could make a pot of coffee. He drank half a cup before deciding that Rodney probably needed a caffeine fix. It was almost supper time and he also wanted to check on how much longer the scientist would be. He was tired and bored and his side hurt, making him cranky and impatient.

As he left the break room, Dave appeared. "Do I smell coffee?"

John winced. "Yeah, I just made some. I should have poured you a cup as well. I was going to take this to Rodney and see if I could get an ETA."

Dave nodded. "Mind if I join you? Cindy called to see when to aim for dinner to be done and I told her I'd call her back."

"Fine by me. Maybe two of us will look more intimidating."

Dave chuckled. "Somehow I doubt that. He seems pretty intense when he gets his claws into something."

"You have no idea," John said as they turned and headed for Carter's office. Dave had let him in earlier to start setting up the thief's computer. John thought it was odd that the door was closed since they were the only ones here. Dave opened it and led the way in.

A bright light flashed from the floor in the middle of the room. John threw up a hand in front of his eyes, noting that Dave did the same. It was gone almost as fast as it appeared and John had a sinking feeling he recognized it. Sure enough, there on the floor was a neat little pile of equipment and Rodney stood with his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide.

John barked, "Rodney," at about the same time Dave barked, "John."

Rodney huffed out a breath and lifted his hands, palms up. "What? How was I supposed to know the two of you would burst in at just that moment. The door was closed. Ever heard of knocking?" He jutted out his chin and crossed his arms over his chest. "This is not my fault."

Dave edged over to the pile and touched it with the toe of his shoe as if he thought he might be imagining it. Then he backed away and looked at Rodney and then John. One corner of his mouth turned up. "Mind explaining to me how a stack of computer equipment just materialized out of thin air? Top secret base? Working with high level _scientists_? Saving the _world?_" Dave put his hands on his hips. "Little brother, you have a lot o'splaining to do," he said in his best Ricky Ricardo voice.

John dropped his head, chin to his chest. "Crap."

Rodney made a shooing motion. "Go somewhere else to call O'Neill and plead for mercy. Some of us have important work to do. Wait." He narrowed his eyes at the cup in John's hand. "Is that coffee?"

John glared at the scientist, purposely hanging onto the coffee while ignoring the question for a minute. He finally relented and handed the cup over. "Next time you can rummage up your own caffeine," he grumbled.

Rodney inhaled the steam coming off the cup and made a humming noise before waving a hand in their direction. "I'm good now, so go. Chop chop. Out."

"We're going," snapped John. "Next time give me a head's up and I won't barge in at an inopportune time."

John stomped back to Dave's office without checking to see if his brother was there. As soon as he entered, he pulled out his cell phone. He managed to get hold of O'Neill, who had already been filled in by Carter about the embezzler they were tracking. Apparently they were together (surprise, surprise). Once John explained what had happened, O'Neill gave him the standard butt chewing over not being careful enough, but there didn't seem to be any heat in it. John thought the general sounded more amused than angered by his predicament.

By the time he hung up, Dave was staring at him like a kid waiting for the okay to open Christmas gifts. John sighed. Part of him wanted to tell his brother, to be able to tell him what was going on in his life. Another part wanted to protect him.

"So, are you going to tell me?"

John eased himself into one of the cushioned chairs. "There's a nondisclosure document you have to sign, promising not to tell anyone about any of this or you'll be prosecuted. O'Neill can't get me a copy for you to sign until tomorrow. If I tell you tonight, will you give me your word that you'll sign tomorrow and you'll tell no one anything I'm about to reveal."

Dave almost bounced up and down, folding his hands together in front of him, probably to keep from waving them around. "Yes, of course."

John studied his brother. "I mean it, Dave. Not Cindy, not the kids, not anyone you work with. No one. Consequences are severe."

Dave waved a hand at him. "Who would I tell, besides Cindy." He thought about it a moment. "Are you sure we can't include Cindy?"

John sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I don't know, maybe down the line. But not right now. It might be best if you don't let on to her you know."

Dave sobered, but nodded. "Okay. I hate keeping secrets from her, but I've been dying to know what you do."

"Yeah, well, the problem with knowing what I do is you can't unknow it after I tell you. This is big stuff, Dave. It will change your perspective on . . . everything. You sure you want to?"

Dave frowned, looking down at his hands a moment. John was glad he was taking it seriously. His brother finally looked up. "I want to know."

"Okay. You better have a seat." John told him a brief history of the stargate, the Ancients, and Atlantis. He told him about serving on Atlantis as the military commander, about the Daedalus, and about the Trust. By the time he was finished, Dave looked shell-shocked. John sat quietly, letting Dave's brain catch up with all the new information.

Rodney popped in the office, carrying his backpack. "Hey, I'm done. Everything is set up for tomorrow. I'll need to be here to monitor Carter's computer." He paused a moment and took a few steps closer. "Is he okay? I think you broke him."

"I didn't break him, McKay. It's a lot to take in."

Rodney's eyebrows shot up. "You _told_ him? I can't believe O'Neill gave you permission."

"Well, he did . . . right after he chewed me out for _your _lack of communication."

"Pffft. Whatever. Can we go now? I'm starved."

Dave's head came up and he looked at Rodney, then shifted his gaze to John. "Is he always like this?"

John bobbed his head back and forth a couple of times. "Pretty much."

"And you both live in another galaxy . . . in the lost city of Atlantis that was built by this race called Ancients?"

John nodded. "Yeah." A smile spread across his mouth as he thought about it. "Cool, huh?"

"Probably not the word I would use," Dave deadpanned.

Rodney walked over to join them. "Hey, you think Dave has the Ancient gene?"

"The what?" asked Dave.

Rodney's eyes widened. "You didn't tell him about the Ancient gene? What's wrong with you. Now that he knows, we should have him tested."

"Rodney, not now," John said between gritted teeth. He pushed to his feet, hand pressed to his sore side. "We're going home . . . not home, to Dave's house. And we will not discuss any of this when we get there, got it?" He looked right at Rodney.

Rodney shrugged. "Got it." He looked at John a moment and then turned to Dave. "So, did Cindy say what's for dinner?"

"Shoot, I never called her back." Dave opened his mouth, looked at John, and then closed it, shaking his head. After a moment, he laughed. John and Rodney glanced at each other before returning their eyes to Dave.

"Uh, Dave? You okay?" asked John.

Dave wiped his face and nodded. "Probably not, but I will be." He looked up at his brother. "When I think of all the times I thought you were showboating with the claims of doing classified work. Oh, not lately. Back before Dad died and then at the funeral." He shook his head. "Turns out you were seriously underplaying what you did. I was such a fool."

John relaxed, happy to realize he hadn't actually broken his brother. "You didn't know. I think it's pretty normal for people to doubt their friends and relatives could be involved in anything big. Don't sweat it."

"He's right, you shouldn't worry," said Rodney. "He doesn't do what he does to get glory or acclimation or any form of reward. He does it because that's who he is. You should see how embarrassed he gets when they award him a medal. Now the promotions, he likes."

John stared at his friend, completely at a loss of what to say. Dave smirked. "Dr. McKay, I think you've rendered him speechless."

"Good," said Rodney. "Too much yapping, not enough movement toward food. You never did tell me what's for supper tonight."

oOo

They left for the office early the next morning, wanting to get into position before many people were there. John watched Rodney set up his computer on a small table in the corner of Dave's office. Dave had gone to make coffee to go with the pastries they'd picked up on the way. He was going to have to convince O'Neill to let them bring Cindy in on their big secret. He'd watched his brother struggle to keep from telling her all night. He wasn't sure the guy could hold out long term and on some level he understood.

Secrets had torn his marriage apart, although if he was honest, he hadn't minded near as much as Dave seemed to. He was both happy for and envious of his brother's marriage. At this stage of his life, chances were he'd never find someone to be that devoted to. Except maybe his team, and that wasn't the same thing at all. He couldn't blame anyone but himself. He had chosen this life. He'd invested most of his adulthood to a way of life that guaranteed he'd never hook up with that special someone.

"You okay?"

John jerked his head up, having forgotten momentarily where he was. "Yeah," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Just thinking."

Rodney crossed his arms and smirked. "I'm going to let that opportunity pass because you look like ten miles of bad road. Did you sleep at all last night?"

John eased himself down into a padded chair. "Yes." It wasn't a lie. He did sleep for a couple of hours. First, he couldn't get his mind to shut off and then he kept waking up from weird dreams where everything went wrong. At least he hadn't had the dream where Gorilla guy killed Cindy and then Dave.

"Right," Rodney deadpanned. "How's the side?"

"Sore."

"O-kay. Man, you could give Ronon a run for his money with the one word answers right now. Are you worried or are you in pain?"

John dropped the hand he'd been scrubbing the side of his face with. "Neither . . . both. I don't know."

Rodney nodded and sat down at the desk. "Some vacation, right? Hopefully, this will be over today and we can have an actual day or two of down time. I think we've more than earned it."

John nodded. "Agreed."

"Again with the one word answers," Rodney chuckled.

John narrowed his eyes and gave the scientist his best glare. Unfortunately, Rodney was already going ninety to nothing on his computer, so it had no effect. After a few minutes, John found himself pacing around the room.

At eight fifteen Sam Carter sent the devised email to Dave, who immediately forwarded it to Carter with a request to get back to him on whether or not they would be able to fulfill the proposed contract. It was almost nine before Carter opened it.

John found himself standing behind Rodney, staring at the computer screen over his shoulder. At first the scientist hunched over closer to the screen, but finally lost patience and twisted around to glare at John. "Do you mind? Personal space? Ring any bells?"

Bracing his side and straightening, John backed up a step. "Sorry." He rubbed the back of his neck and walked over to stand by the window, looking across the city. He wanted this to be over. He wanted to know that his brother was safe. Glancing up at the sky, he wondered if anyone on earth would ever truly be safe again.

"Got it! Carter is forwarding the proposed contract," said Rodney, his voice pitched high with excitement.

"Where to?" John asked, striding quickly to Rodney's side, Dave at his elbow.

"Working on it," Rodney said, typing about a mile a minute. He murmured and complained to himself as he worked, bringing a hint of a smile to John's lips. After a few moments, he sat back and grinned. "Got it," he said as he picked up his cell phone.

"What now?" Dave asked.

John let out a long breath. "Now we make sure we have everything in place and plenty of evidence against him. Then we take him into custody."

"The police?"

John shook his head, his expression hardening. "No. If he's funneling information to the Trust, we need to know. If it turns out he's just working with the competition or something, we'll hand him over to the police."

Dave paled and licked his lips. "What . . . What happens to him if he is working with the Trust?"

John sighed, running a hand through his already unruly hair. "Depends on what he knows. If he knows what the Trust is and what they're doing, he'll probably end up in a secure, classified prison. If he knows what they're capable of and he's feeding them information anyway, then he's dangerous and not just to you."

Dave nodded, but he looked a little sick. "He made his own decisions. He'll have to live with the consequences."

Rodney put his phone up and turned to John. "We've got what we need. O'Neill's friend in the FBI is going to pick him up and hold him until he can arrange transportation." He wiggled his eyebrows a couple of times. "We can't exactly beam him out of here since we don't know how much he knows."

John nodded. "When the FBI guys get here, have them sent up to your office and then call Carter to come up like you needed to discuss something with him. I think it'll be easier if we take him into custody here, especially if he's a Trust operative."

"Do you think he is?" asked Dave.

John thought about it a moment and then shook his head. "Not one of the dedicated ones or he wouldn't jeopardize the operation with embezzling funds. He's either not involved with the Trust or he's just being paid to send them information."

"Agreed," said Rodney.

John smirked at the scientist's one word answer until he rolled his eyes. Forty-five minutes later, Carter was led out in handcuffs and John felt like melting into the nearest chair.

"That was remarkably easy," said Rodney. "Too easy. I keep waiting for Trust people to pop out and start shooting as us or trying to blow us up." He threw himself onto one of the cushioned chairs across from Dave's desk.

"Does that happen often?" asked Dave, his eyes wide and his expression alarmed.

"A lot more than I like," said Rodney.

John frowned at his friend. "Not that often." He wasn't sure if he was trying to convince himself or comfort Dave.

Rodney made a huffing noise and dropped his head back against the chair. "We'll need to take his computer."

Dave sighed. "I figured." He sat staring at his desk a few moments and then closed his computer. "Let me make a couple of calls and then let's call it a day. I feel like spending the day doing something besides work."

John grinned. "Amen to that, brother."

"Sounds good to me," said Rodney. "Think we could stop at that pastry shop on the way home?"

oOo

The afternoon was spent by the pool. John had a lounge chair leaned back almost as far as it would go, dozing in and out and sipping on lemonade. He was wearing swim trunks but had decided that he was too sore to actually swim. Plus he had a whole bunch of stitches to consider. He grinned as he listened to the kids squeal while Ronon and Dave chased them across the pool, never quite catching them. Teyla sat in the shallow end with Cindy and Torren.

Rodney sauntered out of the house, carefully avoiding the splash zone while making his way over to John. He plopped down in the chair next to John, scooting it slightly to take advantage of the shade tree John reclined under. "Do you know how hot it is out here?"

John grinned without turning his head. "Yeah, I kinda figured it out. Why do you think I'm in the shade?"

Rodney swiped his forehead, staring at the sweat he collected on his hand. "I thought you were sensibly trying to avoid skin cancer."

"Nah, that's just a perk. It's not that hot, Rodney. It's nice to get some fresh air once in a while."

Rodney snorted. "Mostly it's just nice not to have people shooting at us, although who knows how long that'll last."

"Pessimist."

Rodney heaved a sigh that had John pushing his sunglasses up to stare at the scientist. After a moment, Rodney turned to look at him. "Carter's dead."

John shot up, wincing at the pull on his side. "What? When?"

Rodney shrugged. "I talked to Sam a few minutes ago. When our guys arrived at the FBI headquarters to collect him, they found him dead. No cause of death yet. No bullet holes or knife wounds or anything obvious. Just looks like he dropped dead."

John dropped his head forward and sighed. "The email he forwarded?"

"The account has been shut down and purged. The SGC is still trying to track down some information, but anything they find will probably be too little too late."

John nodded, looking up at Rodney. "Is Dave safe?"

"Sam seems to think so. They've found a couple more companies that have sent information to the same email address and they're going to investigate. Looks like a similar set up as here, with one person forwarding anything that looked important for money. It looks like they were keeping feelers out with several companies, probably anything they thought might prove useful in the future. She says there's no evidence it was because of ties to you."

John nodded, letting the tension flow out of his back and shoulders. "Then Carter got greedy and started embezzling funds, which drew attention to him and what else he was doing."

"Exactly," Rodney said. "I doubt he knew enough to hurt them much. I think it was a warning so no one else does something stupid like that to endanger their operation."

John rubbed his face and then watched Dave playing with his kids for several minutes. "I'm not going to tell him just yet. Let him have this time with his family."

"It's not your fault."

John sighed. "I knew I should probably keep Carter until our guys could pick him up, but I didn't want to. I wanted time with my family. I wanted time for me. I just . . . " He looked across the field, at the horses grazing in the pasture. "I wanted to not be Colonel Sheppard for a few hours."

"I'm glad you didn't stay with him. You might be just as dead as he is. It would be awkward staying with your brother after you were dead."

John whipped his head around. Rodney was wearing a neutral expression as if he'd just suggested the weather was nice. One corner of Rodney's mouth twitched and they both burst out laughing. John felt the regret flow out with the laughter, which increased with intensity when he noticed everyone staring at them as if they'd each grown a second head.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

John yawned as he slipped quietly up the steps, not that anyone could have heard much over Ronon's snoring. He smiled, happy that his friend felt relaxed enough to let his guard down. They really had needed some downtime, although it would have been better if they could have skipped being caught up in a robbery and having to deal with embezzling Trust informants. Maybe they really were trouble magnets.

The smell of coffee registered about the time John got to the kitchen. He was a little surprised to see his brother sitting at the bar with the paper, sipping coffee. It was barely five and he was pretty sure his brother didn't usually get up this early. He poured his own cup and sat down. "You're up early."

Dave glanced at him before moving his eyes back to his paper. "I could say the same about you. This is _supposed_ to be a vacation."

John snorted. "Yeah, _supposed to_ being the operative words here." He fingered his cup, staring at the pattern without actually seeing it. "Woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. Weird dreams."

Dave let the paper drop to the counter and looked at his brother. "Weird . . . or bad?"

John shrugged. "Both? Sort of a mutated conglomerate of the last two weeks. Let's just say the bad guys weren't the only ones to die." John straightened suddenly and frowned, looking at his brother. "Didn't actually mean to say that last part out loud."

Dave studied him until John became uncomfortable and then looked away. "I can't even imagine. The things you've seen . . . the things you've been through."

They sat in silence for several moments. "Are you wishing you could unknow what I do yet?"

Dave looked at him, lifting his chin. "No." After a moment, he slumped and ran one hand through his hair. "Well, maybe. Parts of it anyway."

"Yeah, sometimes I wish I could forget certain parts too."

Dave nodded. "Uh, I have another problem. Cindy knows I'm keeping something from her. She keeps asking me what's wrong, telling me I can tell her anything. I think she thinks there's a problem with the company. I told her about Carter embezzling money and tried to convince her it was just really stressful with that and the robbery and everything, but . . . "

John watched his brother, studying his eyes. "But she knows there's more."

"She thinks the company is going under and I'm afraid to tell her."

John sighed and scrubbed his hand across his face. Dropping his hand, he stared at his coffee a moment. "You think she can handle knowing?"

Dave's hand tightened around his cup. "I don't know, but I don't want her to know everything. I think if we could just tell her the part about the Ancients and Atlantis . . . maybe that you deal with aliens that are sometimes good and sometimes bad, kind of like people." He brought his eyes up to meet John's. "Don't tell her about the Wraith."

John nodded. "In retrospect, I wish I hadn't told you about them. They've been such a constant part of our life that I wasn't thinking."

"No . . . I'm glad you told me. I understand why what you do is so important." Dave leaned over a bit as he kept his eyes focused on John's. "And I understand how dangerous your job is, that you have to kill to stay alive and keep others alive. I think for the first time ever, I really get it."

John's breath caught at the intensity of his brother's gaze. He saw understanding and respect there instead of disappointment and disdain. For most of his life, he'd wanted to see those things in the eyes of his father, just once. He'd missed that boat, but here it was in the eyes and face of his brother and he intended to soak it up.

"Thank you," John whispered.

Dave smiled and leaned back in his seat. "No, thank _you_. Thank you for your service . . . your service to this country . . . your service protecting this family."

John blushed and slurped on his coffee, looking down at the counter. He'd enjoyed the respect, but this was beginning to overload his people skills. Dave laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "You never could stand to be the center of attention, especially if it involved praise."

John shrugged, unsure of what to say to that since it was true. After a moment, he looked back up at Dave. "Hey, have you talked to Charles lately? I was wondering how he and Charlotte are doing."

Nodding, Dave got up and began refilling his cup. "I did. He called yesterday afternoon to check on how you were doing. He said that he and Charlotte were doing well since everything had finally calmed down."

"Good. They're good people. I hate it that his fundraiser was so badly sabotaged. I still want to make a contribution." John had a lot of respect for Wounded Warriors and the work they did.

"Oh, good news about that," Dave said as he returned to his seat. "He's been getting calls from several of the guests who still want to make a contribution. He said a lot of them are increasing their gift in light of the fact that a vacationing military group saved them from being robbed and possibly worse. I told him I would probably run our check over this evening if you want to join me."

John nodded. "I'd like that. It would give me a chance to see them again before we leave."

"All in all, he felt like he was going to have a sizable donation for them, in spite of the would-be robbers."

"That's great," John said, both relieved and surprised.

They sipped their coffee in silence for a few moments while John gathered his thoughts. "I'll make a call to see about reading Cindy in on the basics of the stargate program. Since you know, I don't think it'll be a problem. But we absolutely cannot tell the kids."

Dave looked horrified. "No, definitely not."

John nodded. "Okay, then. Are you going into work today?"

"I have to. This thing with Carter has left a heck of a mess. I've got to straighten some things out. I probably shouldn't have left when I did yesterday, but . . . but I needed to get away from it to clear my head. What are you guys doing today?"

Grimacing, John groaned. "Shopping apparently. Although I'm thinking of playing the wounded card and offering to keep Torren. I know Cindy is dying to take Teyla shopping for toddler clothes and toys and who knows what else."

Dave winced. "Yeah, that might be a good idea. Once Cindy gets going, it's hard to turn her off. Maybe the guys could sit for the kids while the women shop."

"Sounds good to me."

Dave slid off the stool and then turned back to John. "Hey, do you guys still have to leave Thursday? I mean, you've spent a good chunk of your so-called vacation working."

"Actually, no," John said with a grin. "During the video conference Rodney and I hijacked your office for last night, Generals O'Neill and Landry decided we didn't have to be back until Sunday evening. Think you can put up with us that long?"

Dave looked at him a couple of seconds and then snapped his fingers. "Perfect. We could go to the lake house tomorrow morning and go fishing, swimming, skiing or whatever. We can either come back Saturday evening or . . . if you guys take all your stuff, you could leave from the lake house Sunday morning. That would give us . . . three and a half days to relax."

John sat in shock for a moment, trying to strategize how to get his team organized and ready to leave by morning after Teyla spent the day shopping. He had a sinking feeling that Rodney might want to go stock up on certain things and Ronon might want to see what this planet had to offer in the way of weaponry.

"John? Is that not okay?"

John looked up at his brother and realized Dave was reading his hesitation as not wanting to go. He chuckled. "I think it's a wonderful idea. I was just imagining trying to pack up this evening after Teyla and possibly others go shopping."

Dave laughed. "Hey, I'm sure a base commander like yourself can handle it." Dave suddenly straightened and cocked his head. "Wow, that just hit me. You _command_ a military base."

John shrugged one shoulder. "Well, I'm not in complete charge. I just run the military part of it."

"Close enough," Dave said softly, smiling at him. "Dad would be so proud, in spite of himself. I know I am. I kind of wish I could tell the world." He grinned mischievously. "Or at least march into the boardroom and tell them I'm sorry to be late, but my brother was saving the world and I needed to check in on him."

John swallowed, not sure his father would ever have been proud of him, but relishing the fact that his brother was. He grinned at the mental image of Dave boasting to the members of his board. "Yeah, well, your brother has a lot of help."

Dave nodded, still smiling. "I know. I'm glad." The looked at each other for a moment before he grabbed his cup and rinsed it out. "I'm headed into the office to get started. Have Cindy call me before the great shopping excursion."

"I will." John watched his brother leave and then refilled his cup. Now all he had to do was organize his argument for spilling the beans to Cindy. This was all Rodney's fault. Maybe he'd make Rodney do the pleading. John grinned and sipped his fresh coffee. Yeah, he liked that idea. This was going to be good old Dr. McKay's problem.

oOo

John wasn't sure why he was surprised when none of his plans seemed to work out, since that seemed to be the story of his life. His mission to get Rodney in charge of getting permission to tell Cindy about Atlantis was met with contempt. Rodney was of the opinion that knowledge about all things stargate should be on a need-to-know basis and Cindy simply didn't need to know. When John pointed out that _his_ family knew all about the program, Rodney replied with, "But my sister is a genius that can help the program," and walked off.

Fortunately John was alone in the basement when that happened because it gave him a few minutes to fume and pace at the insult. As he calmed down, he realized that Rodney hadn't meant it as an insult. He was just stating the facts as he knew them. Cindy _wasn't _a genius, probably couldn't help the stargate program unless they needed a mom-figure, and really didn't _need _to know.

John was standing in the middle of the room with his hands on his hips, scowling at things in general when Ronon came downstairs. The big man stopped in front of him and stared for a moment, glanced back at the stairs, then looked back at John. "McKay?"

Sighing, John ran one hand threw his hair and nodded. "Since Cindy isn't some genius that can help the stargate program, she doesn't need to know anything about it." With a snort, he added, "The problem is, he's probably right."

Ronon shrugged a shoulder. "So?"

John narrowed his eyes, trying to decipher the meaning of that particular comment. So . . . Rodney was right and John should get over it or so . . . John shouldn't care what Rodney thought.

Ronon apparently sensed his confusion. "Why does it matter that she doesn't _need _to know? Technically, Dave didn't either. You guys could have made something up about testing newly developed technology or something. You do it all the time."

John was almost insulted by the comment, but was distracted with the realization that Ronon was right. It would have been easy to concoct some developing technology story and Dave wouldn't have known the difference, except maybe to want one of his companies to be involved.

"You deserve to be able to tell your family, Sheppard. How many times have you been either instrumental or directly responsible for saving Atlantis or this planet? And how much have you sacrificed to do that? How many times have you been shot, stabbed, mind-controlled, or turned into a bug? How much time do you think you've lost to those time-warping things? If you want to tell Cindy, you should be able to."

John stared at Ronon, taken aback by his sincere concern and . . . empathy? Ronon didn't have anyone left from his actual family. All he had was his team . . . and maybe that included their families as well. Ronon and Rodney had become brothers to him . . . and maybe they were becoming brothers to Dave and Cindy as well. He grinned.

"You're right. I'm calling the general."

"O'Neill or Landry?"

John snorted. "O'Neill. He's more likely to say yes."

Ronon nodded his approval and clasped John's shoulder a moment. He started to go but turned back after a few steps. "Oh, you need to hurry. I was told to tell you that we're all leaving in twenty minutes to go shopping."

John frowned and shook his head. "No, I told Cindy I could stay here with the kids."

Ronon's mouth widened into that toothy grin that sent shivers down the enemy's spine, and sometimes John's. Like now. "What?"

"Cindy said we were _all _going and to tell you that you may be in charge when you're on base, but you aren't in charge here. And no playing the wounded card. If you can walk around the house and the office with Dave, you can walk around the mall and shopping centers."

John realized his mouth had dropped open and clamped it shut. And here he was trying to do her a favor. Sighing, he decided that the Borg were right, resistance was futile. "Fine, fine, I'll be up in a minute."

"Good." The big man grinned even wider if that was possible. John knew he was really in trouble now. "She also said to bring your credit card. She's been telling Teyla all the stuff she needs to get for Torren."

Shoulders slumping, John dropped down to sit on the sectional. "Great. I wonder if the wormhole will stay open long enough to get all the stuff we buy through."

Ronon laughed as he headed for the stairs. "Just remember, Sheppard. This whole trip was your idea."

John leaned over and put his head in his hands, ignoring the pull on his side. Yeah, this day was not working out at all as he'd planned. Maybe he should have stayed in bed.

oOo

John was exhausted. And his side was throbbing in time with his heartbeat. Although he'd done a small amount of shopping for himself, most of his day had been spent corralling the kids while the women shopped. Ronon and Rodney had quickly perfected the art of disappearing, leaving the slowest moving member of the team to babysit.

He'd had a few seconds of panic at one point when he realized he'd lost Gabrielle. Darting quickly around the children's clothing section, he'd quietly called her name as Daniel trailed along smirking. He'd finally stopped, stared across the endless sea of racks and decided it was time to call for backup when he heard her giggle. Following the sound, he found her hiding in the middle of a circular rack of clearance items. He didn't know whether to hug her or scold her for scaring him to death, so he did both. Daniel had continued to smirk.

"Something funny?" John snapped at the boy.

Daniel shrugged. "Nah. She does this kind of stuff all the time."

John frowned, chewing on his lower lip a moment. "And you didn't think you should mention that?"

"I just did."

Maybe he could slap the smirk off the kid's face. No, his brother would kill him and things had been going so well in that department. "Before now. Like when I was looking for her."

Daniel shrugged again. "Didn't think about it."

"You didn't . . . " John closed his eyes and rubbed his face against the building headache. Staying home with the kids. That had been such a good plan.

John shook his head, bringing his thoughts back to the present. At least they were home now. He stood staring at the pile of boxes and bags spilling over the edge of the couch. How were they going to get all this stuff home.

"Coffee?"

He glanced at Rodney, who had joined him staring at the pile of stuff. "Yeah, about a gallon."

"What all do you suppose is in there?"

John let out a deep breath. "Don't know. At this point, I don't care. I need to sit down." He shuffled to the kitchen, following the wonderful aroma of freshly brewing coffee.

Cindy darted past him as he entered the kitchen. "Coffee is just about ready. I set the cookies out on the table if you want a snack." She stopped, looking up at him in concern. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just tired."

She frowned and then widened her eyes. "Your side. You must be hurting after all that running around. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stay so late. I really thought we'd be home by lunch." She huffed and flushed slightly. "And I'm really sorry about the kids. They usually aren't quite that . . . "

"Crazy," offered Rodney as he breezed past them.

Cindy frowned again, rolling her lip under. "I was thinking energetic."

"It's fine," John lied, thinking he'd rather fight Wraith or angry natives than do that again.

Cindy gave him this _I know you're lying _look that was reminiscent of some of Teyla's expressions. "Right. Well, it's almost three. Why don't you get some coffee and rest until dinnertime. I think you've more than earned it." She shot a glare Rodney's way as he stuck a cookie in his mouth. "And don't think I didn't notice that you were the only one watching the kids most of the day."

Rodney tried to talk with his mouth full of cookie and ended up choking on it. Cindy smirked at him and left. John watched Rodney sputter and cough until he had cleared his throat and then somehow gulped down half a mug of hot coffee. "I had stuff to do, you know, to shop for. You weren't doing anything else."

John sighed and walked over, wincing at the pull as he grabbed a mug from the cabinet. Coffee, then pain pill, then nap.

"Sorry. I guess I wasn't thinking about you being hurt. It's just . . . I'm not good with kids, you know? And you always seem so at ease with them."

John grinned, turning to face the stuttering scientist as he sipped his coffee. "It's fine Rodney. But if they mention shopping again, you and Ronon are up. I'm going to be sick or something equally incapacitating, got it?"

Rodney's posture relaxed and he thinned out his lips in an expression that spoke of both relief and dread. "Got it."

oOo

John jerked, unsure of what had awakened him. A slight rustling to his left had him rolling to the right, grasping for his gun. He hit the floor on his knees, ducking behind the bed as he tried to figure out where his gun was.

"Sheppard, it's me. Everything's fine." Ronon.

John slumped against the side of the bed, his heart racing. Right, nap at his brother's house after morning of manic shopping. He closed his eyes, concentrating on settling his breathing and heart rate. "Yeah, okay."

Ronon came around the end of the bed and stood awkwardly staring down at him. "Sorry."

John looked up at the big man. "Not your fault. I took a pain pill earlier and they . . . " He waved his hand around.

"Yeah, that's why I don't take them," said Ronon.

John frowned, thought about what he'd said, and then sighed. "Well, we can't all be as stoic as you are. Help an old guy up, would you?" Ronon took his hand and pulled him to his feet. John braced his arm against his burning side, hoping he hadn't pulled any stitches when he rolled off the bed. And now that the adrenalin was fading, his knees were complaining about the hard landing.

"You okay?"

John straightened and tried to look like he didn't feel like five miles of bad road. "Sure, I'm fine."

Ronon snorted. "Cindy sent me to check on you. Dinner will be ready in about thirty minutes."

"Thanks. Uh, you don't need to mention the whole rolling onto the floor thing to the others."

Ronon looked amused for a few seconds, but then his expression sobered. "It'll stay between us. Reactions like that can save your life in the field. People who aren't soldiers don't understand that."

John nodded, but looking around the basement family room, he still felt like a fool. At least Dave hadn't witnessed that particular snafu. "After you," John said, waving his arm toward the steps. He followed Ronon up and then detoured to the kitchen for a drink. His mouth was dry and foul like he'd been sucking on musty socks in his sleep, another lovely by-product of the meds.

"Hey," he said to Cindy as he went for a glass from the cabinet. After downing a glass of water, he eyed the coffee pot. He hated the pill-induced feeling that his body wasn't fully connected to his brain, but maybe a good caffeine jolt would help clear the fog. Grabbing a mug, he poured himself a cup and began a slow shuffle for the living room.

"John?" He stopped as he was about to pass Cindy and looked down at her. "I just wanted to apologize."

John's brow furrowed as he puzzled out what she meant. "Uh, maybe I'm not completely awake yet because I have no idea what you need to apologize for."

Cindy chewed her lip a moment, as if composing her thoughts. "About today. I didn't mean to dump the kids on you like that and I really didn't mean to go to so many places or be gone that long." She frowned and crossed her arms. "And I understand my children didn't exactly play fair."

In spite of his aches, the corners of his mouth turned up. "Who told?"

"Gabby. That child thought hiding from you was the funniest thing in the world. She told me all about it, thinking I would laugh too."

John rubbed the back of his neck, uncomfortable with being the reason the kids got in trouble. "Well, since everything worked out, I guess it was a little funny. Air Force colonel panics in department store because his niece has managed to successfully hide from him."

Cindy grinned and then slapped the arm not associated with the coffee. "Stop making me laugh. They made what could have been a simple job a harder one when you probably should have been home resting. And I take the blame for that one for insisting you come along. I am sorry and they _will _pay."

"Look, I don't want the kids to be in trouble on account of me. Realistically, they were just being kids."

Cindy shook her head. "They told me, not you. And they know that. They need to be held accountable for their actions. I can forgive the running around a little too much or handling everything they pass, but hiding from you like that was not funny, not in this day and age. That could have had serious consequences. We had a long talk about why that was wrong and what could have happened."

"So what are we talking about here, punishment wise?"

Cindy grinned. "Nothing too bad. We'll be at the lake for several days. And I know you can't ski or anything like that because of your side."

John frowned. "I'm hoping I can do a little Friday or Saturday, but I'm not sure how that's going to work. I told Dave I could help drive the boat so he could ski or watch you guys. And we'll be fishing some of the time too."

"Well, for the duration of the trip, my children are your personal servants. They can fetch food or drinks, help carry things, anything that gives you more time to relax. Whatever you need, just tell them. Don't be surprised when they come to you to ask if you need anything because I told them we would be watching."

John's eyes widened. "Good grief, don't let Rodney hear that. He'll have them running all over the place."

Her eyes narrowed, darting toward the door. "Rodney and Ronon are not part of this deal since as near as I could tell, they abandoned you with my two hooligans."

John nodded, throwing them under the bus with a pained look. "They did. I didn't know Rodney could move that fast."

"So they'll risk their life for you, but not help with the kids."

John sighed. "I guess there are limits to friendship." They looked at each other seriously for a moment before they both burst out laughing. John looked toward the door and then back at Cindy. "Hey, where are the kids?"

"Outside. I told them to play outside until I called them for dinner because I was annoyed with them and didn't want them under my feet. Teyla and Torren are out there with them."

John nodded. "Can I talk to you while you cook?"

"Actually, I just checked on the casserole we're having so I'm free for another twenty minutes. We can sit at the table and talk undisturbed if you want."

While John got seated, Cindy added to her cup and joined him. "What did you have in mind? You look so serious."

John rubbed his face, not sure how to approach the subject. "I know you think Dave is hiding something from you, and he is, or at least he has been for the last couple of days."

Cindy's eyebrows went up.

"It's about me and my team. He saw something he wasn't supposed to see, so I got permission and filled him in a little on what we do. It's driving him crazy not to tell you, so I got permission to tell you too. But you have to understand that this information is highly classified. If you tell people, not only will you put the lives of you and the family in danger, but the government _will_ come down on you."

Cindy roller her lip under, chewing for a moment. "Do I want to know?"

John met her eyes. "I don't know. Do you? I can tell you the basics if you want. You'll have to sign a nondisclosure agreement that you do not want to break. Some of it is kind of scary, but some of it is pretty amazing too."

After studying his face a moment, Cindy nodded. "I need to know. And I can promise you, I won't say a word to anyone but Dave."

"That includes the kids."

Cindy nodded. "That definitely includes the kids."

"Okay. A long time ago, there was a race of people we call the Ancients."

**Note: **So losing Gabrielle in the clothes rack was based on a real event. When my oldest was around 4 or 5, I took her and her younger sister (who was in a stroller) shopping for clothes in Sears. One minute she was right next to me and the next she was gone. I called quietly at first and then got louder as I grew more worried and raced around the racks of clothes searching (as much as anyone can _race_ around tightly packed clothing racks with a stroller). I was just about to find someone and tell them to lock the store down when I heard her giggling from the middle of a circular rack of clothes. When she crawled out, I wasn't sure whether to spank her or hug her. I don't think I've ever been more scared or more relieved.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

When the elevator door opened in the SGC, John and his team managed to shuffle and shove themselves and all of their baggage into the hallway. He sighed as he studied the pile of suitcases, boxes, and bags. Good thing they weren't flying home, but they might need someone to help shove all this stuff through the wormhole. When Teyla and Cindy went shopping, they were apparently ruthless.

"Are you sure Torren needs all this stuff?" asked Rodney, scowling at the shifting pile. "My lab doesn't have this much stuff in it."

Teyla narrowed her eyes at the scientist. "Cindy suggested we buy things for the coming year since it is not like we can run down to the mall when he outgrows his clothing or needs something new."

"I know, but your people never had a mall to run to. What did they do for clothes and such?"

John decided he needed to preempt the beating that was bound to be the outcome if this conversation continued. "I think the important thing to remember here Rodney is that Teyla is living on Atlantis now. She _chose_ to stay with us and help fight the Wraith. If we can help make her life easier, then why wouldn't we do that?" He gave Rodney his best _you need to shut up now _glare.

Rodney had apparently caught on at some point because his eyes widened and he began nodding. "Yes, yes, of course. I didn't mean we shouldn't help. I was . . . I was just amazed at all the stuff they have for kids these days, you know, compared to when we were kids."

"Right, because that was so long ago," Ronon said neutrally as he began picking up boxes. "Do we know where we're taking this stuff yet?"

"Not exactly," said John. "I need to check in and see what the plan is. Maybe we could push all this up against a wall for now so it's out of the way." They watched as a couple of men on their way to the elevator almost tripped trying to skirt around the shopping bags.

Rodney frowned. "I think that's a prudent idea." He began pushing a box along with his foot.

John narrowed his eyes at the scientist. "Don't strain yourself," he said as he picked up a large pile of bags and moved them closer to the wall.

"You're right," Rodney said, apparently oblivious to the sarcastic tone. John found that surprising considering how often Rodney used it on others. "I'll go find out the plan and let you know where to move this stuff."

"Gee, thanks," John drawled as he watched Rodney practically bounce down the hallway.

"He just doesn't want to help," said Ronon. John stared at the big man, resisting the urge to make the smart aleck comment that ran through his head.

"Hey, I heard you guys were coming back today." They all looked around to see Samantha Carter coming down the corridor, a big smile on her face. "I hear you guys can't resist saving the day even when you're on vacation."

John returned her smile. "I appreciate the way you phrased that. General O'Neill and General Landry's version was more along the lines of _can't you people stay out of trouble_."

Carter smirked. "Yes, well General O'Neill knows full well that sometimes you can't help the trouble you walk into. As do I. Sometimes trouble just seems to find you, whether you want it to or not."

"We have certainly found that to be the case on multiple occasions," said Teyla with a grimace.

"Speaking of trouble, I understand you had to spill the beans to you brother and sister-in-law," Sam said, smirking directly at John. "How did they take the whole _John fights aliens in another galaxy_ thing.

John kept his expression neutral, in spite of the desire to roll his eyes. "Better than I thought they would. At Dave's request, Cindy's version did not include wraith and replicators. At least they know why communication back and forth takes a while."

Sam's smirk changed into a genuine smile. "Sometimes it can be a relief to tell the people we love what we do . . . for a variety of reasons." With a slight nod, Sam stepped closer to Teyla and grinned at Torren. "Wow, this guy has sure grown a lot. What are you guys feeding him?"

"Oh, you know," said John, crossing his arms. "The regular stuff. Wheaties. Miracle Grow."

"John," said Teyla, rolling her eyes. Carter laughed and began peeking in the bags. "John's brother's wife, Cindy, took us shopping," Teyla explained as she set Torren down and began showing Carter some of their purchases. Ronon sighed and leaned against the wall, so John joined him.

Shopping bag show and tell was just winding down when Rodney returned with two airmen trailing along behind. "I found out . . . oh, hey Sam. I found out what's going on. We have to get checked in the infirmary and then meet with the general. They want us to wait until the morning to return so we can talk about the Trust. These guys are going to help carry all this to our rooms for the night."

"I'll let you guys get organized," said Sam. "I'll see you in the meeting with Landry and then maybe we can grab some supper together."

As soon as she turned her back, Rodney began issuing orders to the airmen about what went where. John and Ronon exchanged a look before they began gathering the luggage. Within a couple of minutes, Rodney was leading the way to their temporary quarters. John noticed he was the only one not carrying anything.

oOo

John eased himself into the conference room chair. His side was healing nicely, but Dr. Lam's relentless poking and prodding had given new life to the pain. He'd wanted to ask for a Tylenol when she was done but was afraid she'd admit him or something.

"You okay?"

John looked over as Rodney sat down beside him, sipping from a large cup of coffee. Coffee. He should have hit the cafeteria for coffee on his way. Rodney snapped his fingers, drawing his attention away from the cup. "What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just recovering from Lam's exam."

Rodney smirked. "I knew when she let us all go and kept you that you were in for it."

John narrowed his eyes at the scientist. "Well, thanks for abandoning me . . . again."

Shrugging, Rodney said, "Nothing I could do. I can fix a lot of things, but that wasn't one of them."

John eyed Rodney's coffee, wondering if he had time to make a caffeine run. Rodney apparently noticed because he wrapped his hand around the cup and slid it over to his other side. Ronon and Teyla trickled in the door, taking seats next to Rodney. John shoved to his feet just as Sam, General O'Neill, and General Landry walked in. After exchanging greetings, they took seats around the table. So that was a no on the coffee run.

"Colonel Sheppard, I understand your team finally got some time to relax," said Landry.

"Yes, sir, we did. Thank you for the extra days. That helped a lot."

"It was my understanding that your team was sent to Earth because you desperately needed a break. It seemed only prudent to make sure you got it. First, I would like to discuss the robbery, or rather the attempted robbery. You and your team can report on everything you remember happening and then we'll tell you what our investigation has turned up."

With a nod, John gave a basic outline of events from his perspective, with the others adding an account of events from their perspectives. They finished up with Detective Larson's visit to his brother's home the day after the interrupted party.

"The detective was correct about Alder's group being involved in a variety of heists over the last few years. While they normally seem to avoid violence if they can, they are not opposed to using force." Landry looked at John. "They've killed twice before when things didn't exactly go their way. The FBI seemed relieved for them to be shut down." He glanced at Sam, who responded with a tiny nod before picking up the conversation.

"Their upgraded level of technology came when they added Max Laredo a few months ago. We think they were responsible for a similar attempted robbery at a fancy birthday party in California. Very upper class, with most of the women decked out in expensive jewelry." Sam frowned, pressing her lips into a fine line. "One of the men had hidden his cell phone when they collected everything and tried to call for help. They shot him and ran off with what they had collected before they could make the first money transfer."

"I guess that's when they decided to get the jammer," said Rodney.

"Any sign they are linked to the Trust or terrorists or anything?" asked John.

Landry shook his head. "Not so far. One of the guys is talking and he claims they were going to make this one last haul and be set for life. Apparently most of them were planning on setting up shop on some tropical island and living the good life."

O'Neill snorted. "Looks like now they'll be setting up shop in a cage." Looking up, he grinned at John. "And they could have gotten away with it, too, if not for you meddling kids."

John clenched his jaw to keep from laughing. "Rooby Doo," he said in his best Scooby voice.

Landry and Rodney both rolled their eyes, but Sam snickered behind her hand. Teyla arched an eyebrow at the reference, while Ronon showed his teeth in a big grin.

Landry cleared his throat and everyone sobered. John thought briefly about kicking O'Neill under the table for getting them in trouble, but A) he was a general, and B) he was too far away, which was probably a good thing.

"As for the man sending information about your brother's company, I know you've been told that the account he was forwarding everything to has been shut down. So far we have evidence of information from eight other companies being sent to that same address for approximately the same time period, all of which frequently have military contracts." Landry paused to look up from the stack of reports in front of him. "Five of these are also involved in major power grids across the country and three of them supply equipment to the stargate program, although they don't know that."

John swallowed and exchanged a troubled look with Rodney. "That doesn't sound good."

"Oh, it gets worse," said Sam. "We had a hard time tracking down who the account belonged to, but we managed to get enough to link it to a company called "Securities Incorporated" that we've long suspected as being a front for the Trust."

John ran a hand through his hair, wondering if all this was going to put Dave or his family in danger. It was their meddling that caused the information line to be shut down and he didn't want Dave to be the one to pay for it. He looked up at his superiors, grimacing at their looks of sympathy. "Do you think they'll come after Dave?"

O'Neill shook his head. "The official story is that Carter was arrested for embezzlement and as far as anyone in the FBI knows, that's the truth. They are the ones officially looking into his death, although we'll be sneaking some samples for our own analysis, especially since they seem to have some serious security issues. We suspect a fast-acting, hard to trace poison."

"I don't guess there's any sign of who dosed him?" asked John.

"None," said Landry. "Coincidentally the cameras in that area of the building were on the fritz during the time Carter died."

"We believe the Trust shut down their system as a knee-jerk reaction to Carter being taken into custody. Once it came out that Dave caught him stealing from the company, the Trust should have relaxed," said Sam.

"Should have?" said Teyla.

O'Neill exchanged a look with Landry and shrugged. "We have no way of knowing for sure. It would not be to their benefit to overreact and cause trouble for Dave. They don't realize we know about their information pipeline and going after your brother would draw attention in that direction. We're going to put surveillance on him for a while just to be sure."

John nodded, feeling relieved that someone would be watching out for Dave and his family. He knew they were right that his brother was most likely safe, but he hated to leave it to chance. They'd been burned more than once by being too complacent.

"The really good news is that we can start watching these companies to see if they set up another network," Sam said with a grin. "Sheppard Industries is the only one who lost their inside man. All they have to do is set up another account to receive the information and they're back in business. Once we find it, we can keep an eye out for incoming information on your brother's company as well."

"Carter came up with a brilliant plan," O'Neill said, wiggling his eyebrows at her which immediately resulted in her blushing. "Under the guise of checking security, we're having our guys visit the top twenty companies supplying the military, particularly the stargate program, with important tech or equipment. The cover story is that the military is doing random checks of suppliers to make sure their security procedures are adequate."

Sam nodded. "We'll be setting them up so that we can monitor for information going to out to accounts that might be Trust controlled. The companies we already know have leaks will of course be on that list, but they won't be the only ones. Hopefully that will be enough of a cover not to tip them off."

"Yeah, hopefully," Rodney muttered, rubbing a hand over his face. "Does anyone else find it odd that the high-tech robbery we thought was the Trust wasn't, but the simple embezzlement case we weren't even considering was?"

"Sounds like standard SOP; nothing is as it appears." John sighed, once again lamenting the original shenanigans with the Genii. The room was silent for several moments and John figured everyone was pondering the many examples of them being fooled by appearances.

Landry finally cleared his throat. "Colonel Sheppard, Dr. Lam tells me your injury is healing up nicely. I'm glad it wasn't serious."

"Yeah, Sheppard, what's with getting shot on your supposed vacation?" asked O'Neill with a smirk.

Rodney snorted. "It's what he does, haven't you heard? Especially when he visits his brother apparently."

John's eyebrows came down and his mouth thinned out for a second. "I'll say it one more time . . . this was not my fault. I'm starting to think Dave has it in for me."

Rodney straightened and lifted his index finger. "Hey, speaking of Dave, if you ever need a strong gene carrier in a pinch, you might want to grab him, especially since he knows about the stargate program now."

John's head whipped around to glare at the scientist, causing the man to cringe. "And exactly _how _do you know that?"

O'Neill arched an eyebrow. "Yes, Dr. McKay, how _do_ you know that?"

Rodney slumped down as if he was a balloon with an air leak, dropping his hand to his lap. "I, uh, may have tested him?"

"With what?" asked John.

Rodney shrugged. "I may have had something beamed down with the computer equipment." He looked around the room and then lifted his chin. "Don't act like the rest of you aren't interested. The colonel is the strongest gene carrier we have right now and I figured it was reasonable to expect his brother to be a carrier as well."

"Well?" asked Sam, her eyes bright with excitement. John sighed. Apparently certain people would always automatically drool at the mention of science stuff. Especially Ancient science stuff.

Rodney grinned and leaned back in his chair, smug expression firmly in place. "He's not as strong as the colonel, but he is somewhere around Carson and Major Lorne's level. You know Carson believes several genes are actually involved in determining the strength of expression." He turned to look at John. "You must have gotten a double helping compared to most people."

John tried not to flinch when every head in the room turned to stare at him. Sometimes he really loved having the gene . . . or genes, like when he was flying cool Ancient spaceships or one-upping Rodney in activating something. Other times he hated it, like when it landed him in the infirmary or when people were staring at him like he was a green, two-headed alien.

"Anyway," Rodney continued, "you now have another strong Ancient gene here on earth if you need it."

"Does Dave know?" asked John, thinking surely his brother would not be very happy about such a thing.

"Sort of?"

John stared at the scientist. "Sort of? What's that supposed to mean? Does he know he has the Ancient gene and what that entails or doesn't he?"

Rodney huffed and John was glad to see all eyes were on the scientist now. "When I handed him the scanner we've modified to rate gene strength and it started to glow, he wanted to know what was going on. I told him certain genes were needed to activate Ancient technology and that he apparently had those genes. I didn't mention the genes came from the Ancients themselves. So . . . he sort of knows." Rodney glared at John defiantly, apparently pleased with his explanation.

John sighed and dropped his head. Great. He had assumed Dave had some Ancient genes since he did, but he had hoped it would never be necessary to test him. Technically, it hadn't been necessary. But then, technically it hadn't been necessary to tell him about the stargate program or the fact that his brother lived in another galaxy most of the time. John rubbed his head, wondering if he could just go back in time and not take this trip.

"Take it easy, Sheppard. We won't call on him unless it's some out of control crisis and we need his gene to save the planet or something," said O'Neill. Somehow that didn't make John feel any better.

General Landry blew out a deep breath and then said, "Well, if there's nothing else . . . " When no one said anything, he continued. "I'd say we're done here, then. We'll be dialing out at 0900 in the morning, so have yourselves and all your gear in the gate room before then. Dismissed."

oOo

They were greeted by Carter and Landry the next morning when they began hauling their stuff into the gate room. O'Neill had returned to Washington after their meeting the afternoon before. He wasn't sure about the others, but John was ready to be home. It had been nice to get away . . . well, except for the robbery ordeal and butting heads with the Trust, but he missed Atlantis.

"Colonel Sheppard, we can dial out as soon as your party is ready," said Landry, raising his eyebrows at the pile of boxes and bags.

Carter smothered a laugh, although John wasn't sure if she was amused at their purchases or Landry's reaction. "Wow, there's even more than I remembered. Did you guys leave anything in the stores?"

Rodney huffed out a breath as he dropped a load of bags on the floor. "Funny." He wiped the sweat from his brow as he stared at the floor. "How are we getting all this stuff through the gate?"

John had been wondering that himself. Everyone stood in a circle, staring at the mound. "Maybe could drag it all up the ramp and just . . . shove it through the gate?" he suggested.

Rodney frowned. "What, and hope the morons in Atlantis figure out to move it out of the way before we step through? We'll probably all trip and break a leg . . . or maybe our neck."

Teyla sighed as she shifted a squirming Torren. "I must admit that I was not thinking of how hard this would be when I purchased everything. It seemed like such a good idea when we were shopping."

"I knew it wasn't a good idea when we started trying to pack all this stuff in the car," said Rodney. "I don't think I've ever ridden that many hours with my lap full of shopping bags."

"Gotta tarp we can have?" asked Ronon, looking up at the general.

Landry looked surprised for a moment and then nodded. "I'm sure we can find one."

John knew immediately what the former runner was planning. "Good idea Chewy. You going to pull it through?"

"Piece of cake," Ronon said with a big, toothy grin. Landry's eyebrows went up again, making Carter grin again.

Their dial out was ten minutes late, but all the boxes and bags of purchases were carefully arranged on a long plastic tarp near the base of the ramp. Once the wormhole was established, they waved at the stargate personnel and Rodney and Teyla led the way through the gate. Ronon followed pulling the tarp and John brought up the rear so he could snag anything that fell off.

John could almost feel the pull of Atlantis as he approached the wormhole and he couldn't help breaking out into a big grin. It was almost like she was calling him home. Wow. Maybe he'd let Cindy goad him into watching one too many Hallmark movies.

He walked through the gate into Atlantis feeling a rush of relief and joy that he wasn't sure was entirely his. _Honey, I'm home. _Hopefully, no one noticed the silly grin on his face. Probably not considering the tarp of goodies he was following seemed to have garnered a lot of attention. As John walked up to stand by his team, his eyes were drawn to Woolsey wringing his hands. He was sort of smiling, but it looked like he was scowling at the same time. That couldn't be good.

"Ah, Colonel Sheppard. Welcome back to Atlantis. I can truthfully say we are very happy to have you and your team back in the city."

John set his bag down and crossed his arms as he studied Woolsey. "What's wrong?"

Rodney's eyes went wide in surprise, but Teyla and Ronon looked like they'd been about to ask the same thing. Woolsey thinned his lips and sighed, his shoulders slumping. "We have had a few . . . power issues."

Almost as if on cue, the lights went out for several seconds, then flared brightly before settling back into something more normal. "Power issues," John deadpanned.

"Yes. Dr. McKay, Dr. Zelenka has requested that you contact him immediately. I believe he may need some assistance."

Rodney rolled his eyes dramatically. "Yes, yes, of course he does. I can't leave you people alone for two minutes." He was still muttering as he climbed the stairs and began pulling a technician from their chair while snapping at them to get out of his way.

John took in a deep breath and blew it out through his nose, hoping the power issue wasn't going to be one of those things that turned around and kicked them in the butt. Glancing back at Woolsey, he frowned and cocked his head. "What else?"

Woolsey glared at John, apparently not appreciating John's sixth sense about problems. "Well, it would seem that Captain Wallace's team has run into a problem negotiating with Kollin on M3P 229. They've decided not to trade the Xelig ore unless we double our trade offering."

"Double?" Teyla gasped. "What in the Ancestors has gotten into him?"

"I don't know, but Captain Wallace is about ready to shoot him and . . . I hate to ask since you just got back, but do you think you could help?" asked Woolsey.

"Of course. Kollin can be a bully when he thinks you want something he has. I will be happy to deal with him," said Teyla. "When are they meeting again?"

Woolsey huffed out a relieved breath. "Thank you, Teyla. They are scheduled to leave at 1500 this afternoon."

Teyla nodded as she shifted Torren, who had started pulling her hair. "That would put us there around mid-morning their time. I know that is when Kollin prefers to begin negotiations. That will give me time to get Torren settled and find someone to watch him."

"Thank you again, Teyla. I'll let the Captain know you'll be joining them."

Teyla nodded as she looked around at the loaded tarp. John saw her and said, "Don't worry about all that. I'll get some men to deliver it to your quarters."

"Thank you, John." Torren twisted and reached for the floor, squirming to get out of her arms. "I should take him to get settled back into our quarters." She nodded to the them before heading up the steps.

John looked at Ronon, who gave a tiny nod. "I'll watch her back."

John and Woolsey watched them go. Woolsey looked a little uncertain. "So, is Ronon going with her?"

"Yes, yes he his. Is that a problem?"

"No, it's probably a good idea. I'll let Captain Wallace know to expect them both. I'm sure he'll be relieved."

John nodded. "Teyla will get the ore for us, at a decent price."

Rodney had discovered that the Xelig ore shielded against scanners. He figured if they could incorporate it into building materials, they could make shielded hiding places for some of their allies. It was John's idea to build the hiding places underground, like a basement and then put a common building on top. The entrance would look like the floor, but the villagers would know it was a door to the shielded basement. They could build more than one for larger villages so that most everyone was close to one. Of course they would still have to make it there before the Wraith got to them, but at least it would give them a chance of surviving.

"I hope so. The IOA wants some samples to test as well."

John ground his teeth together for a moment. "Yeah, well our first priority is helping the people here."

Woolsey smiled. "I'm sure we can turn loose of a small amount for them to test."

John shrugged one shoulder. "As long as they don't demand we send it all to earth so they can play with it and figure out some way to screw the rest of the planet somehow."

Woolsey lifted an eyebrow. "On another note, did you enjoy your holiday? Well, the part where you weren't being robbed or spied on."

Letting the tension flow out of his shoulders, John smiled. "Yes, we did. It was good to see Dave, Cindy, and the kids again too."

They both looked down at the tarp. Woolsey took in a deep breath and stroked his chin a couple of times. "I was not aware of how much stuff a toddler needs. Do you think Teyla's quarters are large enough?"

John tilted his head as he studied the boxes and bags. "Maybe? Although all of that isn't Teyla's, most of it is. I should never have let my sister-in-law take her shopping." John shook his head and waved one of the men guarding the gate room over.

"Yes, sir?" John was pretty sure the marine in front of him was barely out of high school. Man, he was getting old.

"Ragland, I don't have my radio yet. Do you think you could find someone to move all the boxes and bags marked with a T to Teyla's quarters and just have them put everything else in mine? I can sort it out later."

Ragland grinned. "No problem, sir. Good to have you back."

"Thank you . . . on both counts," John said with a grin. As he turned back to Woolsey and they began walking toward the steps, he could hear the young marine talking on his radio.

"Colonel Sheppard, sir," called one of the gate techs, Abby if John remembered correctly. She met them at the bottom of the steps, an earpiece extended toward John. "Dr. McKay insists on speaking with you sir."

John thanked her and settled the radio in his ear, noting the tech Rodney had practically ripped from his seat earlier was back in place. Rodney could move pretty quickly when he wanted to. "What do you need, Rodney?" 

"_Finally. Where are you?"_

John quirked an eyebrow at Woolsey, who was trying not to smile. "I'm in the gate room. Where did you think I was?"

"_How should I know? Some of us had to go to work saving the city the second we got here. And by some of us, I mean me of course."_

"Of course. So what do you need with me?"

After a few seconds of silence, John heard Rodney huff out an annoyed breath. _"I need you and your gene to access a back door into the power grid. Someone has screwed the whole thing up so bad it'll take forever to straighten things out the usual way. I figured out . . . okay, okay . . . __**We**__ figured out the Ancients put in a short cut for times like this."_

John grinned at Woolsey and waggled his eyebrows, wishing Rodney could see. "So . . . you _need _me to fix the power systems."

"Don't be ridiculous, we need your genes, not you."

At that point, Radek broke into the conversation. "_Yes, colonel, we very much need you to help us. Ignore Rodney and his gigantic ego. Please come to power room in section G as soon as possible or-" _Radek trailed off as the power in the gate room shut off, the whine of dying consoles sounding loud as everyone froze. John could hear muffled Czech curses over the radio as the back-up generators kicked in and emergency lights came on.

"I'm on my way," John said. Woolsey opened his mouth and then closed it. "What?"

Woolsey sighed. "Dr. Keller wanted you to come by the infirmary, but under the circumstances, I think that can wait."

"It'll have to. Don't worry, Richard. Rodney and Radek will have the power on in no time. In the meantime, I'll double the guards in the gate room."

"Thank you, colonel. It really is good to have you back."

John nodded, a grin slipping through in spite of the circumstances. "It's good to be back. It's good to be _home_." He took the steps two at a time and jogged to the nearest transporter. He'd enjoyed the down time with his team when they weren't fighting criminals and he'd enjoyed spending time with his Earth family. They'd returned to trouble and chaos, almost before they had both feet in the city. It was amazing how normal that seemed.

John's grin broadened as he called for more marines to guard the gate room, stepping out of the transporter to race down the corridor. But he was dealing with _his_ problems in _his_ city and with _his_ people. It really was good to be home.

THE END

_I would like to thank everyone for all the support and reviews. Writing SGA makes me happy and seeing other people enjoy it is like having whipped cream and a cherry on top!_


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